Commuters could see the aftermath Thursday from the Anderson Ferry: a barge partially submerged in the Ohio River, bowed in the middle with its ends sticking out from the water.

The contents? Liquid fertilizer.

An estimated 400,000 gallons of the stuff is currently unaccounted for, according to officials.

"Maybe this means our grass will be greener next year," said Debbie Brock as she stood looking at the barge from her back deck on State Route 8 in Kentucky, directly across the river.

Jokes aside, Brock said, "they better get it cleaned up – any spill is dangerous."

The barge is owned by Southern Towing Company, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. A company spokesman, Darrell Wilson, said Thursday that the chemical had stopped leaking.

The barge pulled into the Benchmark River and Rails Terminal off of River Road in the Cincinnati neighborhood of Riverside on Tuesday morning.

The liquid fertilizer – a 32 percent urea ammonium nitrate solution – was being offloaded when an apparent structural failure occurred.

Officials are currently trying to figure out how much got into the river, how fast it may be moving downstream and at what concentration.

The city of Louisville is preparing to protect its drinking water system from a plume expected to float by the city in about a week.

Cincinnati didn't have to worry about that – its intakes are upstream.

So, what's at risk? Possibly, aquatic life.

No fish kills have been reported yet, but the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection says it is concerned for the health of fish and freshwater mussels.

Ammonia, in high concentrations, "is definitely toxic to aquatic life," said Chris Lorentz, a biology professor at Thomas More College and director of the Center for Ohio River Research and Education, a field station on the Ohio River that studies a number of biological components, including mussels.

Mussels are certainly present there and among the most sensitive creatures in the river, Lorentz said.

If as much fertilizer spilled as feared and concentrations in the water are high enough, Lorentz expects some mussels will die. Furthermore, there is at least one known endangered species of mussel, thesheepnose, living in the area.

Divers were out Thursday and the Kentucky Division of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Coast Guard continue to investigate how and why the barge buckled.

Louisville Courier-Journal Reporter James Bruggers contributed to this report.