T/B PVS 103; Mississippi River, Baton Rouge, LA

Mississippi River, Baton Rouge, LA | 1997-Jun-13

Initial Notification: At 0545 this morning USCG was notified that T/B PVS 103 was releasing hydrochloric Acid Vapors into the atmosphere and a cloud was forming that was visible and extending approximately 30 meters down wind (winds were reported Westerly at 10 Kts).- -PVS 103 is a 200' Double-Hulled, Open Hopper Barge with two cylindrical tanks running from bow to stern. The Barge was being held along the Left Descending Bank (LDB) of the Mississippi River, South of Baton Rouge, at mile #225 by the tug "Uncle Bud".- -At 0647 the river was closed between miles 228 and 222.- -Situation: -At this time the river has been reopened. PVS 103 is still along the LDB near mile 225. The pressure has equalized and no product and only light vapors are coming from the tank. However, there is some quaintly ( how much is yet to be determined) product in the bottom of the hopper. It is reportedly approximately 3" deep but the size of the puddle is not known.- -Air monitoring levels are 0 ppm at the riverbank and 15 ppm near the bottom of the hopper. Evidently the hole was below the product level and some product was lost to the hopper. Again, the quaintly is currently unknown. -The Unified Command is currently in a planning meeting. The reported plan is:-1. Clean up the bottom of the hopper. Two options to be accomplished this are by either pumping or siphoning the product from the deck and flushing the deck with river water. The specific course of action has not yet been finalized.-2. Temporally patch the hole in the tank to avoid further loss of product during transit and.-3. Move the Barge down river to mile 183.8 to off-load the product.- -NOAA SSC, LCDR Tim Steele is available and pageable to assist as needed. USCG district 8.