Spill Forces Ships to Anchor

"We are extremely thankful that no person was injured in this sad accident," said Michael Wilson, the president of Laurin Maritime America, which operates the 600-foot-long Tintomara. The ship is owned by Whitefin Shipping of Gibraltar.

The Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans closed down its raw water intake at Algiers shortly after the collision. Approximately 55,000 households in Algiers, Gretna and Plaquemines Parish were asked to minimize water use, although officials said the tap water was safe to drink. New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin ordered independent testing of the city's water.

The busy waterways of the Mississippi were shut down and 59 ships were told to anchor. Thirty-three other vessels were being held in New Orleans canals.

Jeff Dauzat, environmental scientist and incident commander for the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, said that the No. 6 fuel oil that leaked from the barge made for a difficult cleanup but that it was not as catastrophic for the environment as other types of oil would be.

Keren Murphy, oil and gas expert for the Sierra Club office in the District, said the spill was yet another environmental disaster for the industry.

"We've seen this type of oil spill happen over and over again. We saw thousands of gallons dumped in the San Francisco Bay last year, and this is a much bigger spill," Murphy said. "It took months to try and resolve San Francisco."

Refineries and pipelines damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 spilled about 6 million gallons of oil.