Crews protect wildlife from Texas oil spill

Plastic walls known as booms and oil-sucking skimmer boats were used to safeguard a lake that is a crucial breeding ground and a wildlife management area that lost its protective gates when Hurricane Ike roared ashore a year and a half ago, Patterson said.

The U.S. Coast Guard said about 462,000 gallons (1.75 million liters) -- or 11,000 barrels -- of oil spilled into the water Saturday when an 800-foot (244-meter) Malaysian-flagged tanker headed for an Exxon Mobil Corp. refinery in Beaumont collided with a towing vessel pushing two barges near Port Arthur, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) east of Houston.

It was the largest spill in Texas since 1994, but still well shy of one 20 years ago involving Norwegian tanker Mega Borg that leaked 4.3 million gallons (16.28 million liters) of crude oil about 60 miles (96 kilometers) off Galveston.

The tide lifted the two ships and they separated shortly after midnight Sunday without more oil being spilled, Coast Guard Petty Officer Richard Brahm said.

The crew of the damaged tanker, the Eagle Atome, said the remaining 69,000 of the 80,000 barrels of oil in the ship were pumped out, according to the Coast Guard.

The tanker is owned by AET Tankers, a Malaysian company with offices in Houston. Patterson said AET would pay for most of the cleanup. A spokesman said the company was working with the Coast Guard on cleanup and assessment and referred to Coast Guard officials for further comment.

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