Ohio River Barges Spill Gas After Mishap; Environment Peril Studied

Seven barges carrying gasoline broke free from a towboat Sunday on the Ohio River and spilled an estimated 40,000 gallons of fuel into the river after striking a railroad bridge piling, officials said.

Recovery of the gasoline was impossible because it had been diluted, said Rich Carter, assistant chief of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Emergency Response.

“No impact has been observed thus far,” he said.

Other downstream communities close enough to be affected draw their water from wells or underground aquifers, Carter said. The river’s speedy flow makes the spill unlikely to affect water supplies or aquatic life much, he said.

The rain-swollen Ohio River crested Saturday at 52.2 feet, inches above flood stage, and was falling Sunday. The spill posed the most immediate threat to the Louisville, Ky., water system about 100 miles downstream.

Gasoline tends to float on the water’s surface, and authorities said water systems served by the river could close their intakes until the gasoline floats past. The spill occurred downstream from Cincinnati’s intakes, officials said.

The barges were being pushed down the river by the towboat MV Super America from an Ashland Oil Inc. refinery at Ashland, Ky., to an Ashland products terminal on the river in Cincinnati.

Officials at the scene said several other towboats helped recapture the loose barges. Carter said two oil company facilities were draining the remaining gasoline from the leaking barges.