'Cleanup is underway and regulatory notifications have been made' for crude oil spill

A crude oil leak was reported at the Marathon Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City on Wednesday, Oct. 6.

According to ABC13 Houston, the leak was contained to the refinery by berms. The cleanup briefly caused the closure of Loop 197 from Fourth Avenue South to FM 519.

Bruce Clawson, interim director of Homeland Security for Texas City, said the leak was caused by a pump seal failure at the facility.

"The refinery has deployed air monitoring in the community as a precaution, and there is no indication of risk to the community, "Jama Kheiry, Maratha Petroleum corporate communications manager, said in a statement. "Cleanup is underway, and regulatory notifications have been made."

No agency issued a shelter-in-place order, and no injuries were reported, according to Click2Houston.

The leak began around 8 a.m. Wednesday, Clawson told The Daily News of Galveston Country. The Houston Chronicle reports the oil refinery on the Texas Gulf Coast continued to leak crude into Thursday morning.

The oil tank is about a half-mile from the closest body of water; however, the oil was contained around the tank by berms, acting as a secondary containment area for the spills, Clawson told The Daily News.

"There are great big berms around those tanks," Clawson said. "It's all inside those berms."

It's unclear how much oil leaked from the facility.

Marathon contacted regulatory agencies and reported the spill, Kheiry said.

On Wednesday around 5 p.m., Kheiry told The Daily News refinery staff were "implementing measures to control the source of the release so that responders can safely conduct cleanup activities and repairs," in a statement.

The Texas spill came just days after an underwater oil line in California broke and sullied miles of beaches.