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Towboats crash on Mississippi River, spilling oil

By Tomas Monzon

PADUCAH, Ky., Sept. 3 (UPI) -- A collision between two towboats on the Mississippi River in Kentucky has released an unknown amount of oil into the waterway, the U.S. Coast Guard said Thursday.

The collision took place at 8:22 p.m. Wednesday near Paducah, Ky., the Eighth District of the Coast Guard said.

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The cargo tank of a barge containing clarified slurry oil was ruptured in the crash. The vessel has the capacity to carry 1.05 million gallons of the oil, though it is unknown how much spilled.

USCG is working with the barge owner and oil spill response organization SWS Environmental Services to determine the amount of oil spilled.

In the interim, traffic on the river has been closed between mile markers 938 and 922, with the exception of vessels working on the incident. The cause of the collision has not been determined.

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