Hearing set to examine wreck on river

The Associated Press • August 12, 2008 NEW ORLEANS - Storms halted work to clean up oil spilled along the Mississippi River as the Coast Guard prepared Monday for a hearing about who is to blame for the wreck that caused the spill nearly three weeks ago. Officials wouldn't release a witness list for Tuesday's hearing about the collision of the 600-foot tanker Tintomara with a barge loaded with tar-like fuel oil on July 23. But a news release early this month identified "parties of interest" - the Tintomara and its pilot; the tug Mel Oliver and its steersman and captain; DRD Towing of Harvey, for which the tugboat's operators worked; and American Commercial Lines, which owned the barge. One of the barge's three tanks apparently had remained intact. A cargo surveyor certified that 136,000 gallons of pure oil were pumped out of... [read full story]