A bridge connecting Galveston, Texas, to a nearby island was struck by a barge Wednesday morning, causing an oil spill and prompting police to shut the bridge down.
The Pelican Island Causeway Bridge was struck around 9:50 a.m. when a tugboat backing out of a neighboring fuel storage operator lost control of two barges it was pushing, according to the Associated Press.
No injuries were reported and two crew members were recovered after going overboard, Fox 26 reported. The people stranded on Pelican Island will be removed by boat, Galveston County judge Mark Henry said. Pelican Island is home to a Texas A&M satellite campus and the school canceled classes for the small portion of remaining students.
The Texas Department of Transportation is assessing the structural impacts of the barge collision, Galveston County’s Office of Emergency Management said. Vehicle and vessel traffic was halted this morning. Footage shared on social media showed a portion of railroad tracks running adjacent to the bridge collapsed from the collision.
Galveston emergency management officials and state-level partners are responding to the situation. The U.S. Coast Guard is also on the scene and reportedly evaluating pollution levels. Pelican Island temporarily lost power.
Originally opened in 1960, the bridge was recently rated by Federal Highway Administration officials as “poor” last year. A 2011 estimate maintained that the bridge had 9,100 vehicles of traffic per day.
The barge’s capacity is an estimated 30,000 gallons, and vacuum gas oil — used for producing transportation fuels and byproducts — is confirmed to have spilled into the water. However, the amount of oil spilled is currently unknown, and 6.5 miles of the Intracoastal waterway is shut down because of the spill.
Earlier this year, Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed when a container ship collided with it after the vessel lost power in the early hours of the morning. Six people were pronounced dead after the bridge collapsed, and federal and state officials scrambled to manage the situation. A Mayday alert issued by crew members right before the bridge collapsed alerted transportation authorities and likely saved lives in the process.