Governor Wes Moore and officials from the United States Coast Guard stressed at a Thursday night news conference that there is no immediate public health threat from the wreckage of the Dali or its spilled cargo.
In the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday morning, the nearly 1,000 foot Singaporean vessel struck a pylon at the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing the bridge to collapse and tumble into the Patapsco River. Six construction workers are all presumed dead, the bodies of two have been recovered.
Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath said that 14 containers were “impacted” and that those primarily contained soap, perfume, and some resin material.
“What part of that is still onboard the boat inside parts of those containers or what part might have gone overboard, I can’t tell you,” said Gilreath. Shannon said the USCG is monitoring potential air threats via air monitoring and has set 2400 feet of sorbent boom to contain leakage from the site.
On Wednesday night, the NTSB reported a “sheen” on the water that has prompted concerns about environmental threats to aquatic life. Gilreath believes that may be from approximately 80 liters of oil associated with a bowel thruster that helps move the front of the ship.
In the same news conference officials stressed that earlier that day, the state was officially approved for $60 million in federal relief to assist with clearing the debris. Senator Chris Van Hollen shared that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would cover the full cost of clearing the channel.
“We all recognize that getting the port of Baltimore running again, at full speed, is a priority,” said Van Hollen.
The senator also said that Department of Transportation emergency relief funding would cover the “lion’s share” of the bridge rebuild.
A 1,000 foot crane was transported to the site of the Key Bridge overnight on Thursday and another massive crane is set to arrive by Saturday to assist with salvage operations.