History Detail
Incident Name: V882, V883, V884, V885

Subject: USCG Case History

Incident Date: 4/2/1983

Incident Location: Mile 179.0 Upper Mississippi River, St. Louis, Missouri

Author: USCG Case History

Latitude: 38 40 N

Longitude: 090 15 W

USCG District: 9

Product: Montana Mix sour crude oil

Type: 2

Volume: 13212

Source:Tank Barge

RAR: Vegetated riverbanks, low banks, developed uplands.

Dispersants: No

Bioremediation: No

In-Situ Burning: Yes

Special Interest Topic(s): Adverse weather conditions

Shoreline Type(s) Impacted: Vegetated riverbanks, low banks, developed uplands.

Summary: At approximately 2315 on April 2, 1983, the M/V City of Greenville with a tow of four tank barges struck the Illinois pier of the Poplar Street Bridge near downtown St. Louis, Missouri, on the Mississippi River. Weather at the time was cloudy and overcast with light rain. Visibility was 8 miles with winds gusting from the northwest to 25 miles per hour. Crew error was the primary cause of the accident. The barges, V882, V883, V884, and V885, were laden with a total of approximately 65,003 barrels of Montana Mix sour crude oil. One of the barges exploded on impact and burst into flames. As the fire continued to spread, the tow broke, setting three of the burning barges adrift down the river. The tug and attached barge V885 were moved to the Peabody Coal facility at mile 179.2 for lightering and inspection. The three drifting barges caused extensive damage to facilities and other barges along the left descending bank on the Illinois side of the river. While traveling downriver, one of the barges struck the Pillsbury Grain dock facility. The fire spread to the dock, the grain elevator, and trees and bushes on the shoreline. Three grain barges nearby caught fire as well. A coal barge on the Missouri side of the river ignited from contact with one of the barges. The Monsanto dock caught fire after being struck by one of the barges, and the impact ruptured a pipeline on a walkway, releasing approximately 100 pounds of monochlorobenzene into the river. Barge V884 suffered the most damage, both the barge and its discharged cargo on the river's surface were in flames. After drifting downstream, V884 sank at mile 178.2 Upper Mississippi River (UMR) near the Cahokia Power Plant. The barge continued to release its total cargo of 10,882 barrels of crude oil. While burning out of control, barge V883 lodged bow first into the bank above the Cahokia Power Plant. The fire spread uncontrollably onto the shore. An hour later, V883 broke loose and continued drifting down the river, still engulfed in flames. The M/V Katie eventually grounded V883 by pushing it into the bank at the Pillsbury Facility. The leading barge, V882, was forced into the Arsenal Island barge fleet area after being controlled by the M/V Gary D. Partridge. The USCG Cutters Obion and Cheyenne fought the fire on V883 as well as the fire at the Phillips facility. The cutters used all but two of their fire fighting foam cans. To reduce the probability of reflash, the Cheyenne applied a low-velocity water fog to V883. The M/V Tom McConnel used her propwash to keep burning oil on the water from reaching the Cheyenne during firefighting operations. By 1330 on April 3, the fires on the three escaped barges, the three grain barges, and the Pillsbury dock were out. Valley Towing Service, Inc., the owners of the tug and barges, assumed financial responsibility for the cleanup. Three pollution cleanup sites were established at mile 177.6, 176.6, and 176.2 UMR. A joint Regional Response Team (RRT) Region V and VII meeting was held in St. Louis on April 5, 1983.

Behavior: Each barge leaked at least some of its cargo as it drifted down the river. After it sank, a heavy stream of black oil flowed from V884 down the Illinois side of the river and into the lowlands. Personnel on an April 4 overflight observed heavy patches of oil from mile 179.0 to mile 160.0 in the Upper Mississippi River and heavy ribbons of oil were observed below mile 160.0. Sheen was sighted all the way to St. Genevieve, Missouri. On April 5, discharge from V884 stopped, but there was still a great deal of oil in the river. Oil coverage on the river between miles 179 and 168 was substantially reduced by April 6 due to the swift currents. Sheen covered 5 to 10 percent of the river between miles 155.1 and 168 UMR. Heavy concentrations were spotted at mile 155 UMR on the Missouri side. Due to the continued rise and fall of the river from day to day, the remaining oil in the Mobil East site was stranded on the shore by April 26. Heavy rains and rising water a few days later spread some of collected oiled debris out again. Cleanup operations, which ended on May 9, cost approximately $550,000. An estimated 41,871 gallons of spilled oil and 4,201 cubic yards of oily debris were collected during cleanup operations.

Countermeasures/Mitigation: APEX Towing Company lightered barge V885. The barge was then moved to the National Marine Service gas-free plant in Woodriver, Illinois, for survey and repair. After barge V882 had been moved to the Arsenal Island barge fleet area by the tug M/V Gary D. Partridge, MSO and GST personnel plugged the vents on it to stop any further oil leakage. \\Oil was collected at the three sites along the Illinois shore with the use of deflection booms and vacuum trucks. About 100 feet of deflection boom was deployed between a buoy and a tree on the bank near the Arsenal Island shoreline. This boom contained escaping oil from the fleeted barges upstream. \\Sorbents were used at Lock and Dam 27 to collect and recover oil. A crane barge removed an oil soaked log jam at the Cargill Salt dock. \\Oil herding techniques varied due to the constantly changing winds. Jon boats and wash pumps were successful to an extent. Airboats were the most effective tool for herding the oil, although they require open spaces to work in so that they don't catch anything in their props.\\Heavy equipment as well as manual labor was necessary to clean up the saturated lowlands of Arsenal Island. Collected debris was piled up for drying and was then burned. Heavy rains in late April often extinguished the burn piles. Landlocked oil at the Mobil East site required manual removal and garden tractors. \\Barge V884 salvage operations took place from August 22 to October 21. Oil snares were deployed around the equipment to collect any escaping oil. Only minor ribbons of quickly dissipating oil were released when the barge was raised.

Other Special Interest(s): Wind changes, high water, and swift currents were a continuous problem throughout the response. Wind changes were unpredictable, requiring constant changes in the cleanup plan. Weather during the response ranged from sunny and warm to snow, and was harsh most of the time, requiring the use of personal protective clothing for all weather conditions. Cleanup was slowed because the unusually high waters had deposited oil in trees and heavy underbrush.

References: •USCG On-Scene Coordinator's Report

Last Edit: 9/21/92