Oil Spill Closes Portion of Ohio River Near Cincinnati

An aerial of the W.C. Beckjord Station, situated along the Ohio River southeast of southeast of Cincinnati. Photo courtesy Duke Energy

A portion of the Ohio River near Cincinnati is closed Tuesday following an oil spill from an aging power station belonging to Duke Energy.

The U.S. Coast Guard says it is responding to the spill reported to be 8,000 gallons of diesel from the Duke Energy W.C. Beckjord Power Station near Cincinnati, Ohio. The spill was first reported at 12:20 a.m. EST Tuesday.

The Coast Guard Captain of the Port Ohio Valley has established a safety zone on the Ohio River from mile markers 453 to 468, to facilitate spill assessment and response operations. As of the latest Coast Guard update, there were three vessels on scene deploying boom and other containment and clean-up materials and reportedly 2,000 feet of oil containment boom on site.

Local, state, and federal officials are on-scene investigating the spill to determine the cause and are supervising the cleanup efforts.

Duke Energy has assumed responsibility for spill clean-up and has contracted with an approved oil spill response organization to conduct clean up operations.

The W.C. Beckjord Station, located in New Richmond, Ohio, is expected to be retired January 1, 2015 after nearly 50 years in service, according to Duke Energy.

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