Mississippi River Oil Spill
Two barges pushed by the 90 foot long tugboat Nature’s Way Endeavor struck a railway bridge over the Mississippi River near Vicksburg, Mississippi. One barge suffered slight damage, but the other had its hull ripped open above the waterline. One of eight tanks each holding 80,000 gallons of light crude oil was punctured and leaked oil into the river. The amount of oil released was unknown. A containment boom was place across part of the river downstream from the barge. Skimmers have been deployed to clean up oily water from the river. No reports of damage to the railroad bridge and traffic was allowed to resume a short time later. No reports of injuries. The Coast Guard has launched an investigation into the incident.
Related articles
- Crude oil spills into Mississippi River after oil barges crash (reuters.com)
- Oil spill investigated in Mississippi River (cnn.com)
- 2 barges hit bridge; dump oil into Mississippi River (wtvr.com)
