Barge Spills Oil in Bay, Threatens Shellfish

A ruptured barge spilled at least 14,700 gallons of fuel oil in Buzzards Bay, a prime shell fishing area on the Massachusetts coast, the Coast Guard said.

State officials closed most of the bay to shell fishing as a precaution.

The barge was on the way from Philadelphia to Sandwich, Mass., and was being towed by a tug boat when it apparently hit a rock or the bay’s bottom and ruptured Sunday afternoon, said U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Mary Landry.

By Monday afternoon, the leak from the crack in the single-hulled barge had been contained. But the cleanup was hampered by blustery winds that began pushing the oil toward shore.