Digital Extra

The daily report from the pages of the Journal-Bulletin

J a n u a r y  1 9 9 6  S t o r i e s

1/31: Barge leaves R.I. waters at last
MIDDLETOWN -- With a deep, reverberating groan, two sagging metal cables connecting the North Cape to a 7,000-horsepower tug sprang taut yesterday at three minutes before noon, marking the barge's long-awaited departure from Rhode Island.

1/30: Storm extends barge's stay in R.I.
Anchors aweigh -- almost.

1/29: Cleanup 'not as sophisticated as one might think'
SOUTH KINGSTOWN -- After millions of dollars spent and miles of containment booms laid, the cleanup of the barge North Cape oil spill wound down Sunday with but a fraction of the 828,000 gallons of spilled oil recovered.

1/28: SPECIAL REPORT
An oil barge runs aground on the psyche of the Ocean State.

1/28: Plan drafted for reopening contaminated fishing areas
NARRAGANSETT -- Officials yesterday hammered out a draft proposal for gradually reopening the 250 square miles of ocean closed to fishing by the 828,000 gallons of oil spilled from the barge North Cape.

1/27: South County intruder is finally pulled free
SOUTH KINGSTOWN -- After days of spewing oil and lying dormant in the sand off Moonstone Beach, the fractured carcass of the barge North Cape was finally resurrected Friday.

1/26: Cleanup boss says damage being healed
SOUTH KINGSTOWN -- The barge North Cape, a pestilent dagger that embedded itself into Rhode Island's soft belly a week ago today, spilling 828,000 gallons of heating oil, was surrounded late last night by a flotilla of small craft and crews working to pull it away from Moonstone Beach early this morning.

1/25: Removal of barge begins today
NARRAGANSETT -- After a day of anxious waiting, as foul weather essentially put all cleanup operations on hold, salvage workers plan to refloat the grounded barge North Cape beginning today.

1/24: 'Mother Nature is in charge'
NARRAGANSETT -- A grim weather forecast led the emergency oil-spill team to reverse course yesterday. Instead of trying to free the grounded barge North Cape, they decided to secure it to the bottom -- at least for a day.

1/23: Salvagers may try to refloat stabilized barge today
The Coast Guard reported yesterday that salvage workers successfully stopped the flow of oil from the barge North Cape into Block Island Sound and that the 828,000 gallons already spilled had begun to dissipate dramatically during the day.

1/22: Leaking oil spreads 12 miles
Salvors finally succeeded yesterday in removing large quantities of oil from the barge North Cape, aground off Point Judith. But the barge also leaked more oil, spreading a sheen that reached 12 miles to Block Island's shores and leaving South County's beaches carpeted with dead lobsters, clams and seabirds.

1/21: Grounded barge leaks 700,000 gallons of heating oil
The grounding of the oil barge North Cape on a South Kingstown beach created the largest oil spill in state history yesterday, leaving a beach strewn with thousands of dead lobsters, 18 dead seabirds and a 3.5-mile oil sheen stretching across Block Island Sound.

1/20: Tug, oil barge go aground
Driven by savage wind and seas, a burning tugboat and a barge filled with 4 million gallons of home heating oil washed ashore last night and began leaking fuel at an unknown rate onto a pristine barrier beach along Rhode Island's south coast.