Water Valves Closed as Slick Reaches Town
Workers closed this town’s Ohio River water intake valves Wednesday night as an oil slick began moving through, officials said.
Earlier in the day, workers had filled three barges with a million gallons each of unpolluted Ohio River water to fortify an emergency supply.
The slick was two miles upstream from Sistersville, a town of 2,200 residents, when the workers shut the intake valves shortly before 8 p.m., said Mitch Wilcox, director of emergency services for Tyler County. He said the valves could remain closed for up to a week.
The smelly slick has traveled more than 140 miles down the Monongahela and Ohio rivers since an Ashland Oil Inc. storage tank ruptured Jan. 2 near Pittsburgh.
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