Boaters told to avoid area of Corpus Christi Bay after notice of gas leak Wednesday

Katie Nickas, Corpus Christi Caller Times
Updated ·4 min read

The U.S. Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi established a safety zone around the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway on Wednesday afternoon after being notified of a natural gas leak from an underwater pipe that happened that day.

The seal of the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi. The multi-mission unit oversees Ports and Waterways Security in South Texas.
The seal of the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi. The multi-mission unit oversees Ports and Waterways Security in South Texas.

Coast Guard station vessels went out to investigate the area around 2:30 p.m. after a mariner reported seeing large bubbles rising out of the water indicating an air or gas leak, said Chief Billy Rogers of the Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi Waterways Management Division.

A natural gas leak was reported to the Coast Guard Command Center, he said.

Though the cause of the leak is not known, members of the Incident Management Division coordinated a sector response, and a Marine Safety Information Bulletin addressed by the captain of the port was published on social media, shared on the Coast Guard's Home Port website, and sent through email and VHF radio broadcasts, alerting commercial and mariner industry partners to avoid the area within the safety zone until further notice.

GPS coordinates were provided for the area encompassing the zone to enable recreational boating, commercial barges and ships to find it on their electronic mapping systems aboard their vessels, said Roksolana Matlashewski, public affairs duty officer with the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi.

The safety zone is near mile marker 546, about 0.5 nautical miles south of Corpus Christi Bay Day Beacon 61 in the southern region of Corpus Christi Bay, according to the announcement.

The Coast Guard establishes safety zones to protect personnel, vessels and the marine environment from a possible hazard to navigation and possible gas leak from an underwater pipe.

Vessels were prohibited until further notice from transiting the zone without getting permission from the Coast Guard.

A dive crew that was scheduled to repair the leak on Friday had to postpone the repair due to high winds, Rogers said. If the weather permits, the crew will go out on Saturday.

"Once the dive company notifies us of their findings, we'll have an idea of what they plan to do," he said. "We're happy to hear that it isn't bubbling anymore. We're monitoring and keeping an eye on it."

The safety zone will exist until the incident is resolved, after which an update will be posted on U.S. Coast Guard channels letting people know it is no longer in effect. The Coast Guard will also broadcast the update for vessel radios, Matlashewski said.

Corpus Christi Bay, a saltwater estuary and natural harbor on the Texas coast, plays host to a variety of boating, fishing and water sport recreation. The bay is home to three different shipping channels -- the Corpus Christi Ship Channel, the Inner Harbor Channel and the La Quinta Ship Channel -- and is located near major U.S. oil and gas production sites.

Cheniere currently operates three Liquefied Natural Gas production trains at the facility that are designed to produce about 5 million metric tons of LNG annually. The company's liquefaction facility is located in Corpus Christi Bay in San Patricio County. Cheniere is working on a project to expand the LNG facility on the La Quinta Ship Channel, located about 15 nautical miles from the Texas Gulf Coast, to produce and export more LNG.

Commercial barges typically take a westerly route through Corpus Christi Bay and would not enter the area that lies within the safety zone, Rogers said.

Steven Gordon of the Freedom Boat Club of the Coastal Bend Texas, which buys and maintains a fleet of boats that customers can rent to participate in cruising, fishing and watersports, said that the location of the incident prompting the safety zone was far enough into the bay that recreational boaters would still have route options.

Concerned parties with urgent concerns can contact the Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi Command Center at 1-800-874-2143, or for non-urgent questions and concerns, email CCWaterways@uscg.mil. – Lt. Cmdr. A. Garofalo, Coast Guard by direction of the Captain of the Port.

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This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Boaters alerted to gas leak in Corpus Christi Bay Wednesday