Authorities clean up small Mississippi River oil spill

MOLINE, Ill. (AP) - A towboat operator inadvertently pumped about 50 gallons of an oil and water mix into the Mississippi River Friday, but officials said the spill has been cleaned up.

Moline Fire Department Capt. Brian Vyncke said the U.S. Coast Guard determined that oil somehow got mixed in water that was being pumped out of a towboat owned by the Celebration Belle excursion boat Friday afternoon.

The Quad-City Times reports (http://bit.ly/1HUiN4q ) a cleanup company hired by the towboat's owner used absorbent booms to clean up the spill Saturday morning.

The towboat was attached to a small barge at the time of the spill. The towboat was near the Philadelphia Belle and just north of the Celebration Belle.

Authorities determined that neither the towboat nor the two excursion boats were leaking oil.

"The Coast Guard checked it out and made sure no more of the mixture was being pumped into the river from the towboat," Vyncke said.

The spill was reported around 3 p.m. Friday after someone downstream from the towboat reported an oily sheen on the water.

Initial water tests in the area didn't show any oil contamination, authorities said.

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Information from: Quad-City Times, http://www.qctimes.com