Fuel spill from grounded Washington boat

PORT GAMBLE, Wash. (AP) – The Washington Ecology Department is responding to a Navy surplus boat that ran aground in Port Gamble Bay on the Kitsap Peninsula and is spilling diesel fuel from a vent.

KING-TV says the privately owned boat got loose in Wednesday's storm and ran aground on reservation land. The Port Gamble S'Klallam tribe is deploying oil containment and absorbent booms.

Ecology spokeswoman Barb MacGregor says the tribe has closed shellfish harvest in the area.

She says a caretaker for the boat has agreed to hire a contractor to plug the vents and help clean up the fuel. MacGregor says the amount spilled is under investigation. The vessel reportedly had 1,000 gallons of fuel on board. A sheen has traveled out the north end of the bay.