Coast Guard issues safety advisory for barges as river falls

ST. LOUIS -- The U.S. Coast Guard issued a Mississippi River safety advisory Tuesday for barges, indefinitely limiting the number and size of such vessels as the waterway approaches near-historic low levels.

The advisory, covering 185 miles of the Mississippi from St. Louis to Cairo, Ill., came as one of three barges being towed on the river ran aground near Hartford, Ill.

According to preliminary reports, the grounded barge is loaded with ethanol; the other two are hauling benzene and are reported to still be afloat, the Coast Guard said. Benzene, a colorless liquid that evaporates quickly, is a known human carcinogen that became a regulated hazardous waste in 1990.

No injuries or pollution associated with the grounding were reported, and the incident was under investigation, the Coast Guard said.

Under Tuesday's advisory, all northbound tows were asked to be limited to 24 barges, configured six long and four wide. Within that configuration, no more than 15 of the barges could be loaded, configured five long and three wide.

Southbound tows were asked to be limited to 20 barges, with the heaviest placed to the rear and center of the tow.

All barges should be loaded to a draft -- or the portion of the barge that's below the water's surface -- of no more than eight feet.

The advisory remains in effect until conditions become more favorable, the Coast Guard said.

A dry fall and below-normal temperatures in mid-January throughout the upper river basin have combined to lower the river to near-historic levels around St. Louis, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said.

River levels at St. Louis as of Tuesday were nearly four feet below the preferred low-water mark of 12.5 feet. Based on National Weather Service forecasts, that level could fall an additional two feet, dropping the river to its shallowest depth in more than a decade.

On Dec. 26, 1989, the river reached 5.1 feet below the preferred low-water mark, the lowest since the record of 6.1 feet under the mark, set Jan. 16, 1940.

The measurement is pegged to an arbitrary scale established during a dry spell in 1863 for the St. Louis stretch of the river.

"For the Coast Guard, it's going to require us to be even more proactive in promoting navigability while providing for the highest safety," said Lt. Chris O'Neil of the Coast Guard's marine safety office in St. Louis "That's always a challenge and becomes more so as the river drops."

River engineering structures put in place over the past decade, along with maintenance dredging, has kept the navigation channel open for barges throughout last fall and this season's early winter.

The Army Corps' St. Louis district, which runs from south of Hannibal to Cairo, Ill., will resume dredging later this week to keep the channel open, though such efforts may be pared if the river continues falling and if ice forms in the St. Louis harbor, the Army Corps said.

On Tuesday, O'Neil said, a Coast Guard cutter also was resetting buoys to reflect changes in navigation channels.

Last month, drought conditions forced Mississippi River levels lower than usual for December, running barges aground and prompting the Army Corps to dredge the river south of St. Louis, officials said.

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On the Net:

Army Corps of Engineers' St. Louis district: http://www.mvs.usace.army.mil

Coast Guard: http://www.uscg.mil/uscg.shtm