Unknown Amount of Crude Oil Spills into Major Waterway

The spill of unknown amounts of crude oil into the Mississippi River has kept a sixty-five mile stretch of the waterway closed for over two days after a oil barge collided with a towboat between Baton Rouge and New Orleans Saturday.

Following the crash, officials reported a “light sheen” on the river surface and halted traffic “to avoid contaminating passing vessels and to prevent oil from spreading downriver,” AP reports.

Public drinking water intakes in nearby St. Charles Parish were also closed as a precaution, though officials said the water supply “remains safe.”