Part of Houston channel shut after タンカー, 運送／保菌者 衝突する／食い違う
HOUSTON (AP) ― A 部分 of the busy Houston Ship Channel was shut Monday after two 600-foot ships 衝突する／食い違うd in 霧, 原因（となる）ing a 漏れる of flammable liquid.
Methyl tertiary-butyl ether, or MTBE, a ガソリン additive 船内に the Danish-flagged 化学製品 タンカー Carla Maersk, 漏れるd from 戦車／タンクs that 決裂d in the 大型船's 衝突／不一致 with a 623-foot Liberian 本体，大部分／ばら積みの 運送／保菌者, Conti Peridot, Coast Guard Petty Officer Manda Emery said.
Three 貨物 戦車／タンクs on the 大型船 were 決裂d, 解放（する）ing an unknown 量 of the ガソリン additive, said Coast Guard Capt. Brian Penoyer, 指揮官 of the Houston-Galveston Coast Guard 地区.
"This is not a 貨物 化学製品 that is 平易な to clean up," he said.
乗組員s were 診察するing the 大型船's 戦車／タンクs to 決定する how much of the 製品 may have been 流出／こぼすd into the 50-mile channel that connects the 湾 of Mexico to the Port of Houston.
The 漏れる was 停止（させる）d about 90 minutes after the Coast Guard received word of the 衝突／不一致 about 12:40 p.m., Emery said.
No 傷害s were 報告（する）／憶測d but 公式の／役人s asked that the about 350 people who live in the area, known as Morgan's Point, remain inside their homes. They also 停止（させる）d activity at the Barbours 削減（する） 終点, where 貨物 大型船s are 負担d and 荷を降ろすd.
The 連邦の 環境の 保護 機関 述べるs MTBE as a volatile, flammable and colorless liquid that 解散させるd rather easily in water. It's used to raise the oxygen content of ガソリン.
Emery said it was too soon to 非難する rain and 霧 for the 衝突／不一致.
"We'll have a very long 海洋 死傷者 調査 to follow this," she said.
The Port of Houston, a major part of the ship channel, is home to the nation's largest and one of the world's largest 石油化学（製品） コンビナート／複合体s. It typically 扱うs about 70 ships per day, 加える 300 to 400 tugboats and 船s, and 終始一貫して 階級s first in the nation in foreign waterborne tonnage, U.S. 輸入するs and U.S. 輸出（する） tonnage. It is second in the U.S. in total tonnage.
公式の／役人s with two 明言する／公表するs 機関s, the General Land Office and the Texas （売買）手数料，委託（する）／委員会／権限 on 環境の 質, said they would play a backup 役割 in any cleanup 成果／努力, deferring to the Coast Guard for any 援助 they may need to 供給する.
The land office was 供給するing 職員／兵員 and 器具／備品, 広報担当者 Jim Suydam said. TCEQ could 補助装置 with water 見本ing and 監視するing of 空気／公表する 質 if the Coast Guard requested it, 広報担当者 Terry Clawson said.
The 国家の Transportation Safety Board also 派遣（する）d a team of 捜査官／調査官s to the scene, によれば an NTSB 声明.
記録，記録的な／記録するs show the Conti Peridot was built in 2011 and left パナマ Feb. 27 for Houston. It 以前 had been to Shanghai, 中国. The Carla Maersk, built in 1999, left Venezuela Feb. 7, arrived in Houston last Wednesday and was 長，率いるd 支援する to Venezuela.
It was the second ship 衝突／不一致 in the channel in いっそう少なく than a week. No 汚染 and no 傷害s were 報告（する）／憶測d last Thursday when a 445-foot タンカー and 892-foot コンテナ ship bumped about 15 miles up the channel from Galveston.
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Associated 圧力（をかける） reporters Terry Wallace and David 過密な住居 in Dallas 与える／捧げるd to this story.
