Coast Guard responds to pollution incident after vessel capsized in Mississippi River

MERAUX, La. (WGNO) — The New Orleans Coast Guard responded to spill in the Mississippi River after a vessel capsized near Meraux.

Watchstanders received a call at about 12:50 a.m. alerting them that dredging vessel, W.B. Wood, capsized near mile marker 85. Two people we onboard at the time but they were rescued by the crew aboard the the Good Samaritan towing vessel Omaha.

Coast Guard Sector New Orleans Incident Management Division partnered with Wood Resources, LLC, in an effort to save the capsized vessel. Three boats with the Environmental Safety & Health Consulting Services responded to the scene to skim the water.

For eight hours the Coast Guard closed the watery from mile marker 81 to 86 but later reopened with with resptrictions np place to facilitate a safe operation. More than 3,360 gallon of the “oily water” mixture was recovered.

The Coast Guard reports 940-feet of hard and soft boom, was deployed to contain the spill that spread down to mile marker 64. Guards say the spill is expected to dissipate naturally.

No other areas along the Mississippi River were impacted as the incident reamins under investigation.