DECEMBER 10, 2013 — The Coast Guard stories that response crews yesterday commenced lifting operations of the 154-foot sunken towboat Stephen L. Colby from the Mississippi River financial institution close to LeClaire, Iowa, Monday.
The 144 ft Marquette Transportation Co. towboat sank after placing a submerged object close to LeClaire, November 24. At the time of the sinking, 9 crew members had been aboard and all had been capable of make it to security. Approximately 100,000 gallons of petroleum merchandise had been aboard.
Yesterday, salvage crews labored to cradle and dewater the vessel in an effort to take away further weight whereas lifting the towboat. Crews handled under freezing circumstances and lengthy hours all through response efforts and proceed to conduct air pollution mitigation by means of cleanup operations.
Approximately 39,900 gallons of oily-water combination has been recovered from the river (quite than the 61,900 gallons earlier reported on account of an error in calculations), 89,000 gallons of oily-water combination recovered from the Stephen L. Colby, and greater than 6,800 cubic ft of oily waste has been collected.
The reason behind the incident is below investigation.