At 1:30 a.m. on May 14, 1996, a Chevron Products Company (Chevron) pipeline ruptured at a thin spot caused by external erosion and began discharging No.6 bunker fuel oil adjacent to the Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) Waiau Power Plant in Pearl City, Oahu, Hawaii. The released oil entered the nearby Waiau Stream, flowed downstream and entered East Loch of Pearl Harbor. While in the fresh water of Waiau Stream, the oil remained mostly submerged and then floated to the surface upon entering the denser salt water of Pearl Harbor. In Pearl Harbor, the floating oil initially flowed clockwise down the South Channel. Later that same day, when the winds and current shifted, the oil spread widely around East Loch and began moving down both the South and North Channels and fouling shorelines.