Major Fuel Spill Endangers Mississippi River

Reopening of River Remains Days Away by: Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune A worker picks up an absorbent mop used to soak up fuel oil on a bank of the Mississippi River in Jesuit Bend, Louisiana. (Photo: Alex Brandon / The Associated Press) Long stretch of Mississippi closed for attempted oil cleanup. A 100-mile stretch of the Mississippi River remains closed indefinitely to ship traffic this morning, as salvage workers drafted plans to remove a split fuel barge from beneath the Crescent City Connection in New Orleans and a half-dozen emergency spill contractors continued efforts to corral hundreds of thousands of gallons of thick, smelly fuel oil as it floated toward the Gulf of Mexico. Meanwhile, residents of Algiers remained skeptical of the assurances given by New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Sewerage & Water Board... [read full story]