Crude oil spills into Mississippi River after oil barges crash

The towboat Nature Way Endeavor banks a barge against the western bank of the Mississippi River on Sunday. The river was closed to all traffic eight miles north and south of Vicksburg.

VICKSBURG, Miss. — Two oil barges pushed by a tugboat slammed into a railroad bridge in Vicksburg on Sunday, causing one to leak crude oil into the Mississippi River, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

Officials used an “absorbent boom” to contain the undetermined amount of oil that leaked into the river after the collision, which occurred shortly after midnight and damaged both barges, Lieutenant Ryan Gomez said. The barge that is leaking was holding 80,000 gallons of light crude oil, he said.

“A towing vessel was pushing two barges side-by-side and they struck one of the Vicksburg railroad bridge piers,” Gomez said.

No one was injured in the accident. Federal, state and local officials, as well as the industry’s Oil Spill Response Organization, were on the scene.

Gomez said he did not have information about any of the companies involved in the oil transport.

The barges were pushed up against the river bank while a team at the scene decided how to clean up the spill, he said.