Coast Guard says most of the oil spilled in Baltimore’s harbor has been recovered

A drum skimmer recovers oil spilled into the water in Harbor East near Living Classrooms. Thousands of gallons of oil were spilled Wednesday afternoon from diesel tanks supplying fuel to Johns Hopkins Hospital care facilities. Kim Hairston/Staff

Efforts to clean up an oil spill that leaked 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel into Baltimore’s harbor Wednesday have recovered most of the spilled oil, the Coast Guard said.

The crew working to clean the spill has recovered 4,700 of the estimated 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel that made it into the harbor and that between 25% and 50% of the oil has likely dissipated since, Lt. j.g. Erin Johnson, a spokesperson for the Coast Guard, said in a statement sent to The Baltimore Sun on Saturday evening.

After rain showers brought no additional oil out of the storm drain system, the emergency response team determined that their attempts to flush oil out of the system had worked, Johnson said.

This team consists of local authorities and private contractors coordinated by the Coast Guard to clean up the oil spill that originated when tanks fueling Johns Hopkins University’s health care facilities overflowed.

Hopkins committed Thursday to handling the costs of the cleanup, which has mostly contained the spill to a 100-by-250-yard area of the Patapsco River, near the Harbor Point Connector Bridge in Fells Point. On Sunday afternoon, Lancaster Street at the intersection of South Central Avenue was closed, and crews were still working on the water.

Some local businesses, such as Cinghiale, a restaurant on Lancaster Street, said the spill had minimal impact on operations.

Cinghiale dining room manager Jake Lubniewski said that even on the day of the spill, patrons continued to dine outdoors, despite the smell. “The day after was a little bit quieter for us for general business, though,” Lubniewski said. “But it picked back up for the weekend, and people have been sitting outside the whole time.”

A faint odor of fuel lingered in the area Sunday, and in some areas, small puddles of oil could be seen atop the river as crews maneuvered between barricades in the water and on the docks.

Sun reporter Matt Hubbard contributed to this article.

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