ACBL to Pay Over $2 Million for Mississippi River Oil Spill
Jeffersonville, Ind.-based barging company American Commercial Barge Line (ACBL) has agreed to acquire and preserve 649 acres of woodland wildlife habitat and will pay an additional $2 million for damages stemming from a 2008 oil spill on the Mississippi River, near New Orleans.The company has already paid $1.32 million to reimburse the federal and state trustees for their past damage assessment and restoration planning costs after one of its barges discharged approximately 6,734 barrels (282,828 gallons) of No. 6 fuel oil into the Mississippi River upriver of New Orleans in July 2008.
Hurricane Rita – New Orleans
The U.S. Coast Guard issued a Marine Safety Bulletin stating that the Port of New Orleans has returned to normal conditions in accordance with the Maritime Hurricane Contingency Plan. The Lower Mississippi River is open, but deep draft traffic between the Southwest Pass sea buoy and mile marker 0 is restricted to daylight only. The Inner Harbor Navigation Canal is open, but the channel is restricted in the vicinity of the Florida Avenue Bridge due to salvage operations. The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway is closed between MM 20 and MM 65 and between MM 115 and MM 177 (all WHL). The Atchafalaya River is closed from MM 115 north. (HK Law).