The commercial oil spill response company tends the containment boom deployed around the wreck of the ferry Peter Stuyvesant in Boston Harbor. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Ann Marie Borkowski)
BOSTON — U.S. Coast Guard Sector Boston is keeping a watchful eye on an old oil discharge site that started leaking on Feb. 14, 2017.
The boilers of the sunken ferry Peter Stuyvasent contained about 120 gallons of Number 6 fuel oil. Contractors cleaning up the discharge have recovered about 2,000 gallons of the oily waste.
The ferry is being excavated as a part of a major redevelopment project at Pier 4. The construction crews were under the impression the vessel was free of pollutants, but immediately called the Coast Guard when one of the boilers started leaking.
The ferry boat sank during the Blizzard of 1978 at Pier 4 in South Boston. It used to serve as a 3,500 passenger cruise vessel on the Hudson River, but was relocated next to Anthony’s Restaurant as a permanent dining room and cocktail lounge in 1968.
The last boiler in the ferry was removed on March 28, and no new discharges have occurred.