The U.S. Coast Guard said Monday that almost half the oil that spilled at a major Texas port during a collision between a tanker and a towing boat has evaporated, dispersed, or been recovered from the water. Coast Guard Petty Officer Casey Ranel said about 662,500 liters of oil had been evaporated or dispersed. She said about 175,000 liters-or 10 percent of the total oil spilled-was recovered. Two nearby sensitive wildlife areas remain unaffected by Saturday' spill, which was mostly contained in a 3 kilometer area of the Sabine Neches Waterway near Port Arthur, about 145 kilometers east of Houston. About 1,748,000 liters of oil spilled when a 245-meter tanker headed for an Exxon Mobil refinery in Beaumont collided with a ship pushing two barges. Nobody was hurt.
