[mtskier]

A barge laden with a million gallons of gasoline remains hard aground in the Columbia River at the mouth of the Hood River after efforts to free it with an additional tugboat failed late Thursday.
Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Ryan Harry says a new plan calls for an empty fuel barge to be brought alongside in order to transfer gasoline off the grounded vessel, making it lighter so it can be freed from the river bottom. That effort is due to start at daylight Friday.
The Coast Guard and barge operator Tidewater Barge Lines of Vancouver, Wash., have inspected the double-hulled vessel and found no damage so there has been no environmental impact.
The crew from a tug transporting four barges through the Columbia reported the grounding early Thursday. The three other barges were removed by Thursday afternoon.