The collision between two towboats and their barges last Wednesday spilled more than 120,000 gallons of clarified slurry oil into the river.
The U.S. Coast Guard is overseeing all agencies and contractors who have responded to the spill, and Petty Officer 2nd Class Ryan Tippets in the Coast Guard's 8th District Public Affairs office said preparations are underway to begin cleanup.
"We don't have a timeline right now on how long the cleanup process is going to go on," Tippets said. He also did not have an estimate for how long it would take, but indicated that multiple contractors and agencies will be on the scene.
Kevin Strohmeier of the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection said they have had personnel onsite to monitor activities, and they will be involved through the entire process.
"Since it is Kentucky water, we're the ones who pretty much are giving final approval to all plans, in conjunction with the Coast Guard and the responsible party," Strohmeier said. He said KDEP has provided scientific and regulatory assistance, advising those parties about permits and applications that must be filled out, and helping with data interpretation from the scene.
Fly-overs and shoreline assessments took place almost immediately after the incident, but they showed no contamination on the surface. Strohmeier said underwater divers, sonar, and snare samplers were used to locate the spill.
He said, "It's actually pretty much where it spilled out when the collision occurred, so it didn't go very far. So, we're really fortunate on that."
Strohmeier said the river has been allowed to reopen because most of the recovery operation is out of the channel. He said the spilled oil hasn't spread because of its unique characteristics.
"It has a consistency of thick molasses. When you pour it into the water it pretty much drops straight to the bottom. It's very cohesive and it stays together almost like a bead of mercury would. Even (with) fairly strong agitation in a jar, if it breaks up at all it re-congeals," Strohmeier said.
He said the cleanup will involve removal of the oil and a small amount of the river bottom, but there is not much likelihood of soil contamination.
Strohmeier said equipment and contractors will probably arrive Friday or Saturday, and they expect to begin on Sunday or Monday. He said the best estimate he can give is a couple of weeks for cleanup work, and KDEP doesn't expect much long-term testing after that.
"Our agency is pretty pleased with the response that everybody has done. I think everybody's done a good job of addressing this and getting it cleaned up as soon as possible," Strohmeier said.
As for the cost of response and cleanup, he said the company that had possession of the spilled material is typically responsible for it. A trust fund set up after the Exxon Valdez spill allows rapid response to any incident, and Strohmeier said the Coast Guard will pursue reimbursement.
