Mississippi River oil-spill barge is moved

A barge involved in a collision that spilled oil into the Mississippi River near Garyville, La., was emptied and relocated, the U.S. Coast Guard said. Coast Guard officials said leftover oil was removed from the barge and it was in a repair facility in Westwego, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported Sunday. The Clarence W. Settoon was towing the tanker barge when it collided with the Alydar, which was towing construction equipment, Friday in Garyville, causing sweet crude oil to spill into the river, the Coast Guard said. "The collision tore a hole into the double-hulled tanker barge, causing the release of an amount of oil estimated to be less than 10,000 gallons," officials said in a news release. The accident prompted officials to temporarily close the river to commercial traffic and begin a cleanup effort in St. John the Baptist Parish. The cause of the accident remained undetermined, The Times-Picayune said.