May 15, 2009

Crash closes locks
Damage to barge, not locks halts river traffic at The Dalles

By Kathy Gray
of The Chronicle

     River traffic was halted at The Dalles Dam Friday after a barge carrying a tankload of gasoline collided with the navigation lock.
     The storage tank was not breached and no gasoline leaked into the river, said a report from the Washington Department of Ecology.
     The collision occurred sometime after midnight when a barge traveling upriver bumped into the wing wall on the downstream side of the dam while entering the lock, said Matt Rabe, spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Portland office.
     “The barge sustained damage,” Rabe said. “The navigation lock and wing wall did not sustain significant damage.”
     A stage gauge that shows the water level in the locks was damaged, Rabe noted.
     The U.S. Coast Guard was on scene this morning inspecting the barge and tug before determining whether the vessels can continue on their planned journey.
     In the meantime, barge traffic both upriver and downriver was impeded and at least two tugs were waiting this morning to take their charges through.
Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) in Yakima, the U.S. Coast Guard (Coast Guard) and Tidewater Barge Lines were on scene thhis morning at The Dalles Dam, according to an Ecology press release, regarding the tug collision at the navigation locks. (See related story in the print edition of today's Chronicle, page A1.)
     The double-hulled barge is carrying 2 million gallons of gasoline. The barge and tug struck the "long wall" at the entrance to the locks, breaching the outer hull of the barge about three feet above the water line. The accident caused a four-foot by four-foot gash, but did not damage the cargo tanks.
     No fuel has spilled and no water is getting inside the barge. The structural integrity of the barge has not been compromised. According to a Tidewater spokesman the double-hull performed as designed, limiting the damage to the outer hull, while protecting the cargo tanks.
     The Coast Guard has conducted a helicopter over flight and responders saw no gasoline sheen on the water. The river has been closed to boat traffic both upriver and downriver of the dam until the site is cleared.
     The Coast Guard is waiting for a marine chemist to inspect the barge holds to make sure the barge can be safely inspected. The Coast Guard then will determine if the vessel can continue down the river or if the gasoline must be off-loaded on site.
      Ecology and Coast Guard will continue monitoring the situation for any leakage.