SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Coast Guard Sector San Juan’s Incident Management Team concluded response efforts to secure an oil discharge from two legacy pipe structures between piers 2 and 3 in San Juan Habor, Thursday.
Efforts concluded following operations by oil spill removal organization contractors to seal two legacy pipes to prevent any further discharge of oil into San Juan Harbor, and approximately three weeks of site monitoring with no signs of pollution in the water.
Coast Guard worked with an oil spill removal organization and local government authorities to successfully cap and seal both pipelines. Throughout the response, Coast Guard and partners entities investigated the complexity of the legacy pipelines and dealt with the challenges of existing infrastructure while mitigating the pollution threat by containing and cleaning up recoverable product from the water.
“We are pleased to inform that the work to formally secure and seal the two legacy pipes between Piers 2 and 3 in San Juan Harbor has been successfully completed,” Lt. Cmdr. Ray Lopez, Coast Guard Sector San Juan Incident Management Division chief. “We would like to extend our thanks and appreciation to all industry response entities and local government partners in the San Juan Municipality, the Puerto Rico Ports Authority, the Department of Transportation and Public Works, the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, and the Cultural Department who worked throughout the five-month response to protect the population, the environment and the local business community from this pollution threat.”
During response efforts September 4 and 5, contractors utilized dive teams, technical equipment and specialized personnel to clean two pipelines using a pressure washing line, a vacuum truck and a fitting attached to the end of the pipe. A crawler camera was inserted into the pipelines to map their structures. Inflatable plugs were then inserted into both pipelines before filling and sealing them off with concrete. Once the pipelines were successfully capped and sealed, containment and absorbent boom was reserviced and left in place during the monitoring phase. Coast Guard Incident Management personnel conducted a final inspection of the work site, Thursday, and verified there was no further oil discharging from the pipelines or sheening in the water.
Coast Guard watchstanders in Sector San Juan received a National Response Center pollution report following a patrol by Station San Juan and Incident Management Division personnel in San Juan Harbor, April 11. The patrol was a planned effort in support of Operation Resilient Coast which led Coast Guard personnel to discover the legacy pipe was slowly and persistently leaking heavy black oil into the water. Suspecting the oil may be linked to similar pollution incidents in the area, the Coast Guard team collected samples to be analyzed at the Coast Guard Marine Safety Lab.
Due to the potential impacts to the waterway, the Coast Guard activated the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund and contracted Clean Harbor Environmental Services, Inc. as the Oil Spill Removal Organization for the incident. On April 15, Clean Harbor crews temporarily plugged the affected pipe and deployed absorbent containment booms to capture and contain any material discharged into the water. Coast Guard Sector San Juan Incident Management Division personnel and Clean Harbor crews actively monitored and serviced the containment area by periodically replacing absorbent and repositioning containment boom as required.
On May 5, the Coast Guard Sector San Juan Incident Management Division received analysis results from the Coast Guard Marine Safety Lab which confirmed collected samples have similar characteristics to the samples from the 2024 Pier 9 and 2021 Pier 4 mystery spills. These important similarities indicate these samples may be related to each other through a common source of petroleum oil.
Throughout the response, Coast Guard communicated and coordinated with local and federal government agencies and the Caribbean Regional Response Team to keep them informed on the status and progress of the response.
To report oil pollution in the water, contact the National Response Center at 1-800-424-8802.
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