Tennessee River cleaned up from towboat spill cleaned up in Marion County

The Gladys Ford towboat, owned by Choctaw Transportation Co., is being attended to by Marion Environmental, Inc. on the Tennessee River in Marion County.
The Gladys Ford towboat, owned by Choctaw Transportation Co., is being attended to by Marion Environmental, Inc. on the Tennessee River in Marion County.
photo The Gladys Ford tugboat, owned by Choctaw Transportation Co., is being attended to by Marion Environmental, Inc. on the Tennessee River in Marion County, Tenn., late Friday. A blue tanker is backed up to the bow of the tugboat at the Serodino boatyard just downriver from the Haletown Marina, in the background.

A spill that dumped an estimated 20-30 gallons of diesel fuel in the Tennessee River in Marion County on Jan. 22 has been cleaned up.

Steve Lamb, director of the Marion County Emergency Management Agency, said the work was completed Sunday. Lamb said the Gladys Ford, the towboat operated by Choctaw Transportation Co. Inc. out of Dyersburg, Tenn., whose breached hull led to the spill, was patched up and moved to a permanent dry dock for further repairs.

Marion Environmental Inc., the consulting firm hired by Choctaw Transportation to clean up the spill, will complete a report about the spill and clean-up, ensuring that everything was done according to environmental standards. Lamb said Wednesday that Marion Environmental likely was still working on the report, as he had yet to receive it. Marion Environmental personnel declined comment.

Don Blansett, manager of the South Pittsburg Board of Waterworks, said the plant hasn't experienced any water quality problems, nor has it received any complaints about water quality.

Calls to Choctaw Transportation Co. went unreturned.

Upcoming Events