An Unlikely and Remarkable Safety Journey
Late last year, the Transportation Research Board released a major study that was undertaken “in response to the rapid development of domestic sources of energy and questions about the safest ways to move these products.” The Study Committee examined the operational responses of the three primary modes impacted by the fracking revolution – rail, pipeline and maritime. A primary observation of this work was that that the “Marine Transportation System Offers a Model for Robust Safety…
Coast Guard Response to Vicksburg Spill Continues
The unified command continues to respond to a crude oil spill in the lower Mississippi River near mile marker 436 in Vicksburg, Miss., Thursday. At 10:05 a.m. response crews removed fuel from the damaged barge MOC-12 after reconfiguring oil-pump equipment. Following completion of the oil removal operations the damaged barge will be inspected and prepared for transit to a maritime facility in nearby Vicksburg. The MOC-15 barge has been moved upriver from the MOC-12 oil removal operation and is waiting for transportation to a maritime facility.
Vicksburg Oil Spill Causes 800 Vessel Queue
Lower Mississippi vessel traffic queue management ongoing as Unified Command continue their response to damaged barge. Following completion of the oil removal operations the damaged barge will be inspected and prepared for transit to a maritime facility in nearby Vicksburg. The MOC-15 barge has been moved upriver from the MOC-12 oil removal operation and is waiting for transportation to a maritime facility. Response crews have deployed 5,300 feet of boom to contain any potential oil releases.
Dredging 24/7 to Keep Mississippi Open
US Army Corps of Engineers battle extreme low-water conditions to keep the river' scommercial navigation moving. Five dredges are kept moving rapidly from one trouble spot to another to keep up with dynamic low water operational demands, the Corps is also working very closely with the navigation industry and the U.S. Coast Guard to communicate concerns, groundings and changing conditions to avoid accidents and river closures. Unless additional rainfall occurs, the latest long-range forecast calls for river conditions to continue to fall through the end of August with new low-water records possible at several key navigation points along the lower Mississippi between Cairo, Ill., and Baton Rouge.
