Clam boat pulls up 10 mysterious containers off New York, one breaks open and sickens crew
By APMonday, June 7, 2010
Clam boat pulls up canisters off NY, crew sickened
BOSTON — The U.S. Coast Guard says a fishing boat dredging for clams off New York has pulled up 10 canisters, including one that broke open and caused two crew members to experience blistering and difficulty breathing.
The Coast Guard says the two crew members from the Atlantic City, N.J.-based ESS Pursuit were taken to St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford, Mass. One has been transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital, and the other has been released.
The Coast Guard says it was not immediately clear what chemical was involved, but authorities were investigating. The agency issued a rare order to the vessel to return to the New Bedford port Monday. The canisters were dropped back into the ocean.
Officials are working to decontaminate the vessel and its four other crew members and to clearly mark the area south of Long Island where the containers were found.
(This version CORRECTS that boat is based in Atlantic City, N.J., not Massachusetts, per Coast Guard.)
