A legacy underwater fuel line began leaking heavy bunker oil into the Columbia River near the Port of Astoria’s Pier 2 late last week, triggering a weekend-long, multi-agency response. The leak came from a roughly 50-foot section of a 12-inch-diameter pipeline still holding leftover fuel, after a structure supporting the previously unknown system beneath Pier 2 failed.

Responders deployed about 2,600 feet of containment boom and absorbent material to keep the oil from spreading, while divers disconnected the submerged pipeline from the pier, capped it, and plugged the pier-side section to halt further release. Environmental contractor GrayMar Environmental Services was brought in early, and the U.S. Coast Guard reported no additional discharge after the line was secured.

By midday Monday the leak was contained, Port Executive Director Will Isom said, with work shifting to cleanup and quantifying a spill volume he described as difficult to measure but likely small. The response is being coordinated with the Coast Guard, Oregon DEQ, NOAA, and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, with shoreline teams surveying affected areas during limited tidal windows.

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