Barge Captain Gets Prison Time for Fatal Explosion
An Illinois man who was captain of a petroleum barge that exploded in a Chicago canal in 2005, killing a crew member, was sentenced to six months in prison on Friday, prosecutors said. Dennis Egan, 36, of Topeka in central Illinois, and the barge owner, Egan Marine Corp. of Lemont, were each convicted in June 2014 of negligent manslaughter of a seaman and negligently discharging oil into a waterway, according to a statement from prosecutors. The Chicago suburban company was ordered to pay $5.3 million in restitution to the National Pollution Funds Center for the clean-up. On January 19, 2005, a barge being pushed by the tow boat "Lisa E" on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal was carrying about 600…
Oil Spill Closes 65 miles of Mississippi River
A 65-mile (105-km) stretch of the lower Mississippi River, including the Port of New Orleans, remained closed on Sunday night while crews cleaned up oil that spilled when a barge was hit by another vessel, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. The collision happened on Saturday afternoon near Vacherie, Louisiana, about 52 miles (84 km) west of New Orleans, according to U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Bill Colclough. The Lindsay Ann Erickson, which was pushing grain barges, collided with a barge carrying barrels of light crude oil pushed by the Hannah C. Settoon, which caused oil to go into the river, according to Colclough. No injuries were reported, and the source of the oil has been secured, the Coast Guard said.
