Date of incident: January 7, 1994.
Location: Punta Escambron, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Trustees:
Case Status: Finalization and Implementation of the Restoration
Plan and Environmental Assessment.
Overview: Before dawn on January 7, 1994, the Morris J. Berman—a 302-foot-long,
90-foot-wide barge, loaded with 1.5 million gallons of no. 6 fuel oil—drifted aground near San Juan, Puerto
Rico, after its tow line broke from the tug Emily S.
The grounding ruptured seven of the barge’s nine holding tanks and resulted in release of approximately 800,000
gallons of fuel oil into nearshore waters, including those adjacent to the San
Juan National Historic Site. From January 8 until January 12, lightering
operations removed oil from the barge.
On January 15, 1994, after lightering most of the remaining oil from the barge, the U.S. Coast Guard (Coast Guard)
refloated, transported, and then scuttled the barge in 6,123 feet of water at a
former munitions disposal site located 23 miles north-northeast of San Juan.
The Coast Guard estimated that a secondary release of between 85,000 and 125,000 gallons of an oil-water mixture
occurred during refloating and towing operations, resulting in patchy oil and
sheens over a 20-mile stretch of offshore waters.
An additional 160,000 to 200,000 gallons of oil sank with the barge. For several weeks after the scuttling, this
secondary release of oil continued from the sunken barge and formed oily slicks
and scattered tarballs. This oil eventually spread along much of the northern
and northwestern coast of Puerto Rico.
