
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 23, 1994                   TAG: 9403230110
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                                LENGTH: Short

TANKER SPILLS OIL INTO RIVER

A liquified natural gas tanker that had finished unloading its cargo sprang a fuel leak early Tuesday, spilling about 1,500 gallons of oil into the southern branch of the Elizabeth River, the Coast Guard said.

Most of the oil that gushed from a 12-inch crack in the British-registered tanker Isomeria was contained by booms, but some spread beyond the mostly industrial area where the spill occurred, said Quartermaster Jeff Pagels, a Coast Guard spokesman.

"There's been some seepage into other parts of the river," Pagels said, but he did not know of any significant environmental damage.

Coast Guard officials said the cause of the tank rupture wasn't known.

- Associated Press

by CNB