OHIO RIVER REOPENED AFTER CLOSING FOR SPILL

PADUCAH, Ky. -- A two-mile stretch of the Ohio River, from mile marker 917.5 to 919.5, was closed Thursday after a leaking tank barge spilled hundreds of gallons of gasoline into the water.

The river reopened to traffic Friday after a 24-hour closure for clean-up operations.

No injuries were reported.

The gasoline was from a tank barge which was damaged while passing through the Smithland Lock & Dam on the river. The tank barge struck a wall of the lock about 4 p.m. Thursday, cutting a 4-foot gash in the tanker, which leaked approximately 500 gallons of gasoline into the river.

The river was closed by the U.S. Coast Guard from the Coast Guard Marine Safety Office at Paducah to allow for clean-up and repair efforts.

The barge was among a tow of the motor vessel, "City of Greenville," which is owned by Kirby Inland Marines Inc., out of Houston, Tex.

Coast Guard and Army Corps of Engineers were on the scene at 5 p.m., and closed the river at 6:30 p.m., according to Lt. Tom Boyles, of the Marine Safety Office.

The barge was safely towed to a mooring cell south of Smithland Lock and Dam.

Divers placed a temporary patch over the damage on the tanker, completing the temporary repairs about 2 p.m. Friday.

The river was reopened at 3:45 p.m. Friday, and boat traffic was required to pass the area of the mooring cell at a slow, safe speed.

The remaining gasoline will be pumped from the damaged tanker into an empty tanker barge and the damaged tank will be returned to Baton Rouge, La., for permanent repairs.