Unraveling the Enigma: The San Juan Port's Recurring Spill Incident

The ongoing mystery of the oil spill at San Juan’s port has taken a turn, as the Coast Guard has identified the source and is taking action.

During a routine patrol on April 11, officials from Station San Juan spotted oil contamination in the waters between piers 2 and 3. They traced it back too an old, rusted steel pipe that was gradually leaking thick black oil into the harbor. this isn’t a new issue for this port; previous incidents have raised concerns about environmental safety. To investigate further, samples were collected from this pipe for analysis at the Coast Guard Marine Safety Lab to see how it compares with earlier spills.

To tackle this leak effectively, they accessed funds from the Oil Spill Liability trust Fund and enlisted Clean Harbor Environmental Services as their cleanup partner. By April 15, crews had successfully sealed off the leaking pipe and set up containment booms around it to prevent further spread.

A month later, on May 5, lab results came back confirming that this oil matched samples from past spills at Pier 9 in 2024 and Pier 4 in 2021—pointing to a shared origin for all three incidents.

The teams are still keeping an eye on things at the site while replacing sorbent materials as necessary. Plans are underway for a subsurface assessment to identify any additional sources of leakage and develop strategies for cleaning up residual oil—aiming to minimize future risks along the waterfront.

“We’re managing to contain this discharge effectively,” said Lt. Cmdr. Ray Lopez of Coast Guard Sector San Juan’s Incident Management Division.”This containment allows us to maintain normal operations at Piers 2 and 3 while we continue our investigation.”