Mississippi River Reopens After Oil Spill Wednesday

The U.S. Coast Guard says the Mississippi River has been opened again after crews cleaned up 2,500 gallons of oil that spilled earlier today

By: Associated Press | Alabama's13.com
Published: July 30, 2008

» Comments | Post a Comment

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The U.S. Coast Guard says the Mississippi River has been opened again after crews cleaned up about 2,500 gallons of oil that spilled earlier today.

Captain of the Port Lincoln Stroh says the spill happened after what he described as a "burp" occurred -- when the level of the river fell, shifting the barge which sunk last week following a collision with a tanker. He says there may be more of those incidents until the barge can be secured to the bridge.

Stroh also had some good news: He says it looks as if one of the barge's three tanks remains in tact. That means the spill could be one-third less than the original estimate of 419,000 gallons.