The Nation - News from Feb. 29, 1988

A salvage crew raised a sunken oil barge from the depths of Guemes Channel, one month after it sank and spilled about 70,000 gallons of heavy bunker oil near Anacortes, Wash. A helicopter hovered overhead to track the movement of an oil sheen that appeared as the barge was raised by two giant derricks. The upside-down barge was to be flipped over so the remaining 300,000 gallons of oil could be unloaded. Nearby boats contained about 100 gallons of lighter oil that was detected after the barge broke the surface, said Ats Kiuchi, a spokesman for the state Department of Ecology. The barge initially held about 22,000 gallons of light oil in addition to the heavy oil.