Company slapped with citations for Ohio River barge that 'cracked in half'

Two months ago, a barge transporting liquid fertilizer cracked in half on the Ohio River and spilled 467,000 gallons of liquid fertilizer into the frigid current.

The release posed a threat to aquatic life and drinking water systems downstream.

Now, the owner of the barge, Memphis-based Southern Towing, has been cited for three violations in regards to the chemical release. The violations carry potential fines up to $25,000 a day per violation.

About half an hour before sunrise on Dec. 19, the nearly 50-year-old barge buckled as the liquid cargo was being offloaded at a dock in Cincinnati. By the time the incident was reported, the center of the barge was completely sunken in the river and the chemicals had started to make their way downstream.

Response efforts began immediately, but there's little that can be done aside from monitoring the situation when a pollutant, such as liquid fertilizer, dissolves into the river.

"This was a large spill," said Tom Gabbard, assistant director of the Kentucky Division of Water, whose office issued the violations. Gabbard said the state is still trying to determine why the barge buckled. Southern Towing is expected to explain what happened in its response back to state regulators, due no later than Feb. 21.

At that point, the Kentucky Division of Water's enforcement section will decide whether fines are appropriate, Gabbard said. He said financial penalties are "infrequent" and depend on the nature of the spill and its impact.

Cabinet records show that Southern Towing has had no prior incidents on the Ohio River, within Kentucky’s jurisdiction, that would fall under the Division of Water’s regulatory authority, according to John Mura, spokesman for the cabinet.

The fertilizer incident concerned water providers in Louisville.

"It’s certainly one of the most unique and challenging spills we’ve encountered," said Kelley Dearing-Smith, a spokesperson for the Louisville Water Co. "Our scientists had to find the spill and then track it as it passed through Louisville. We set up a mobile water quality lab that was staffed through the Christmas holiday."

The fertilizer is a type of cargo not regulated by the U.S. Coast Guard, said Chief Warrant Officer Kevin Cador, so his agency wouldn't have inspected the barge that cracked in half. However, the Coast Guard's investigation into the incident remains open, Cador said.

"As of right now, everything is being looked at," Cador said. "We are still figuring out if there is something that can happen in the future to avoid this from happening again."

Many cargos are regulated on U.S. waters such as the Ohio River, Cador said, but many others aren't, including fertilizer, coal, grain and recycled metal.

Water monitoring after the spill indicated high levels of ammonia and nitrogen up to a mile downstream of the barge. While there were no reports of dead fish or other river-dwelling creatures, though a local scientist said he expected some loss of life.

In high concentrations, ammonia "is definitely toxic" to some river inhabitants, including uber-sensitive mussels, 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.

Who will pay for the response and monitoring after the spill?

Louisville Water Co. racked up $41,145 in costs. It sent the invoice to Southern Towing, Dearing-Smith said.

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The Kentucky Division of Water will also send a recovery letter to the responsible party, once the cost has been determined, Mura said.

A spokesman for Southern Towing said it would be inappropriate for the company to comment at this time, while investigations by local, state and federal authorities are ongoing.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this article was changed to reflect new information provided by the Kentucky Division of Water.