Wednesday, August 11, 1999
Coast Guard, sun clear gas from Ohio
River reopens to traffic after 2 days
The Associated Press
MOUNT VERNON, Ind. — Coast Guard crews Tuesday mopped up a gasoline spill that fouled the Ohio River, assisted by sunshine that evaporated a mileslong fuel slick caused by a barge crash.
The river remained closed to traffic for a second day, but the Coast Guard was reopening the waterway at 10:30 p.m. CDT Tuesday.
This city, forced to haul in water when river intake valves were closed, resumed pumping river water into its treatment plant Tuesday afternoon. A boil order remained in effect.
A 3-mile-long gasoline sheen that formed after the barge crash was reduced to a half-mile Tuesday, said Coast Guard spokeswoman Angel Deimler.
Workers removed gasoline remaining on a barge that had leaked an estimated 75,000 gallons of fuel into the river, she said.
Crews worked to separate another gasoline-laden barge from a tanker carrying cumene, a toxic chemical used in making plastics, that was struck while docked, Ms. Deimler said. Workers sprayed foam around the crash site to soak up the gasoline and reduce the threat of fire. The barges were pulled apart with a towboat.
After the barges were separated, no one saw any leaking. The products on both barges will be removed, the Coast Guard-Marathon statement said.
But much of the cleanup was done naturally — by the bright sunshine. “The longer the sun beats down on it, the faster is dissipates,” Ms. Deimler said.
The weather conditions also kept the gasoline slick from spreading far down river, she said.
“The wind was working with us and kept it from spreading,” she said. “It's stayed within a 2-mile area. Mother Nature was on our side.”
The Mississippi Queen and 17 tows were held up while the barges were connected. After the river reopened, they would be allowed to proceed at slow speed, one at a time, according to a statement from the Coast Guard and Marathon Ashland Petroleum. The vessel carrying cumene belongs to Marathon.
With its water reserves nearly depleted, Mount Vernon gained approval from Indiana environmental officials to reopen its water intake valves along the river, said city utility manager Mike Stucki.
Mount Vernon, a city of about 7,000, was down to about three hours of water reserves when the intake valves were reopened, he said. The city continued hauling in water to bolster its reserves.
Waxler Towing Co. of Memphis, Tenn., which owns the gasoline barges, said it regretted the “inconvenience this accident has caused everyone in and around Mount Vernon.”
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