The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) worked with contractors Saturday to mitigate the potential pollution threat posed by a derelict barge on the shoreline of Womens Bay on Kodiak Island.

The USCG verified an approximate 300-yard long, one-yard wide, patchy, rainbow-colored sheen coming from the vicinity of the barge that has been grounded on shoreline of the southeast corner of Womens Bay for several years. The USCG opened the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund for $150,000 and hired Global Diving and Salvage to assess the situation and help mitigate the pollution threat.

Containment boom has been placed around the barge. Contractors plan to begin pumping product from the barge Saturday afternoon. Coast Guard pollution investigators from Marine Safety Detachment Kodiak initially responded to a report Thursday morning of a rainbow-colored sheen coming from the vicinity of the barge.

The maximum potential for fuel and or oily waste that remain on the barge and the barge’s owner are still unknown. —USCG 17^th District