Diesel Cleanup Underway After Tugboat Sinks On Columbia River Near Priest Rapids Dam

Cleanup efforts are underway on a stretch of the Columbia River near Priest Rapids Dam, after a tugboat sank, causing a diesel spill early Sunday.

Officials with Grant PUD say the vessel had been leased by one of its contractors and sank while moored to a barge a few miles upstream from the dam.

Crews discovered the submerged boat at around 6 a.m. on Monday and immediately went to work installing absorbent booms to help soak up the spilled fuel.

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PUD staff say the dam wasn't damaged and it's not yet known how much fuel spilled into the river.

In a press release issued Tuesday, the PUD's senior vice president of power and market operations, Jeff Grizzel, said, “We are grateful that no one was harmed in this incident and that the diesel was contained to a small area where it is being removed from the river. We are working with the contractor to facilitate the cleanup and recovery of the vessel, and to better understand how this happened and prevent it from happening again.”

Authorities say they are still investigating what caused the tugboat to sink.