MARCH 15, 2015
MOLINE, ILLINOIS
One day after an oil spill was discovered on the Mississippi
River in Moline, Illinois, clean-up was underway.
After investigating where the oil was coming from, the
Rock Island Arsenal and the Moline Fire Department initially indicated
that a tugboat connected to the Philadelphia Belle was
the source of an oil spill.
On Saturday morning, March 14, 2015, the Rock Island Arsenal
Fire Department said the origin of the spill was from the Celebration Belle.
Coast Guard officials estimated that somewhere between 10
and 55 gallons of an oil-water mix spilled from the Celebration Belle on Friday
afternoon.
According to a spokesperson from the Rock Island Arsenal,
mitigation company, EnviroMart, was working to clean the spill. During
the clean-up process, 380 feet of booms were deployed to help pull oil from the
river.
The oil was first spotted by Arsenal personnel Friday
afternoon at the Arsenal’s hydroelectric dam, said a spokesperson from the
Arsenal. Officials say the incident will be considered closed once
clean-up is complete.
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A towboat operator inadvertently pumped about 50 gallons of
an oil and water mix into the Mississippi River Friday, but officials said the
spill has been cleaned up.
Moline Fire Department Capt. Brian Vyncke said the U.S.
Coast Guard determined that oil somehow got mixed in water that was being
pumped out of a towboat (the Wanda Isabelle) owned by the Celebration Belle
excursion boat Friday afternoon.
The Quad-City Times reports (http://bit.ly/1HUiN4q ) a
cleanup company hired by the towboat's owner used absorbent booms to clean up
the spill Saturday morning.
The towboat was attached to a small barge at the time of the
spill. The towboat was near the Philadelphia Belle and just north of the
Celebration Belle.
Authorities determined that neither the towboat nor the two
excursion boats were leaking oil.
"The Coast Guard checked it out and made sure no more
of the mixture was being pumped into the river from the towboat," Vyncke
said.
The spill was reported around 3 p.m. Friday after someone
downstream from the towboat reported an oily sheen on the water.
Initial water tests in the area didn't show any oil contamination,
authorities said. Dilution is the
solution to pollution.