LeBeouf Towing Company; New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans, Louisiana | 1988-Sep-10

Initial Notification: At approximately midnight on September 10, 1988 during Hurricane Florence, a LeBeouf Towing Company tugboat was attempting to move four barges loaded with Louisiana sweet crude oil into the Mississippi River. The tugboat and barges were separated during the height of the storm. Two of the four barges were grounded on the jetty adjacent to the Mississippi River outflow area at light number 61 (approximately 45 miles east-southeast of New Orleans). Barge B-15 was stranded on the jetty as storm-surge waters receded. Barge Ellen was aground by her starboard bow on the same jetty. Both barges were damaged and leaking. The combined load carried by the two barges was reported as 17,000 barrels of Louisiana crude; 3,000 barrels were lost. The U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Office (MSO), New Orleans, was notified of the spill later that morning and launched a surveillance overflight that discovered a rainbow sheen slick measuring approximately 5 miles long by 1 mile wide adjacent to and downstream of the grounded barges. The two remaining barges from the original tow were still adrift in the outflow area. USCG district 8.