Limits on Houston Ship Channel traffic lifted

GALVESTON, TX

The move comes five days after an oil spill caused by a collision of a ship with an oil-bearing barge spilled thousands of gallons of oil into Galveston Bay.

A statement from the unified command of marine safety and environmental protection efforts says the Texas Department of State Health Services has deemed the area safe for swimming and fishing.

Another statement says some of the spilled oil has drifted southwest on the Gulf of Mexico current before washing onto 12 miles of beach on Matagorda Island, a barrier island about 100 miles southwest of Galveston. Officials say protective booms kept the oil from washing into environmentally delicate Espiritu Santo Bay behind the island.

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