Workers at Newport News Shipbuilding were transferring jet fuel to the future John F. Kennedy aircraft carrier Friday when the fuel known as JP-5 spilled into the river, at the shipyard.
The company originally reported that roughly 50 gallons had been spilled. An inspection of the fuel tanks by state investigators the next day found that between 7,000 and 8,000 gallons of jet fuel leaked into the James River.
The public has reported an odor and an oily sheen on the water. Pollution Assessment teams from Coast Guard Sector Virginia, supported by Coast Guard Station Portsmouth boat crews and a drone, have mapped out an area of concern from Newport News past the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel. One loon has been found dead, says the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality…