{"id":785,"date":"2014-04-09T08:01:00","date_gmt":"2014-04-09T08:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=785"},"modified":"2015-01-09T15:53:22","modified_gmt":"2015-01-09T20:53:22","slug":"monongahela-oil-spill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/04\/09\/monongahela-oil-spill\/","title":{"rendered":"The 1988 Monongahela oil spill"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The <\/a>
The dark patches are water, January 2, 1988 (Post-Gazette photo) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The collapsed Ashland tank in a pool of diesel fuel (Mark Murphy\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div>
\"Ashland <\/a>
Ashland oil tank site with the remains of the tank that disintegrated (Post-Gazette photo) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Workers <\/a>
Workers at Braddock Lock pump oil from the river (Tony Tye\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Two <\/a>
Two workers of the pumping crew place a hose in the pool of diesel fuel at the Ashland site (Darrell Sapp\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

It was the second largest oil spill in the history of Western Pennsylvania and one of the worst inland oil spills in the nation.\u00a0According to Coast Guard statistics, as reported by the New York Times, only a 14 million gallon spill into the Delaware River in 1975 and a 2 million gallon spill after an explosion in Brooklyn the next year involved larger quantities.<\/p>\n

At the time U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter called the Monongahela oil spill \u201ca super, major spill.\u201d<\/p>\n

On January 2, 1988, a 3.8-million gallon diesel oil tank collapsed and failed, dumping an estimated 1 million gallons of diesel fuel into the Monongahela River in Floreffe, Pa., 18 miles south of Pittsburgh; 2.5 million gallons were trapped by retention dikes around the riverside storage area, forming a pool of oil. River traffic on the busy Mon stopped.<\/p>\n

The tank burst at 5:10 p.m. at the Ashland Oil Inc. storage area as it was being filled, threatening wild life and drinking water supplies for about 1 million people in more than 80 communities across three states. After the rupture, \u201cthe tank looked like someone stepped on a marshmallow.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 6-inch-thick slick, spreading bank to bank had grown to 33 miles long as it flowed past Pittsburgh\u2019s Point State Park and 10 miles up the Ohio River.<\/p>\n

The spread of the fuel was unstoppable; foot by foot it moved forward, conquering the water surface of the Mon and carrying it all the way to the Ohio River, reporters described the asphyxiating smell of diesel fumes in the air.<\/p>\n

As the Associated Press reported at the time, \u201capproximately 23,000 suburban Pittsburgh residents lived for a week without tap water while the river carried the pollution past their water intakes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Federal agencies in collaboration with local authorities used 20,000 feet of boom and barges to contain the spill and deflect the fuel. Cold January temperatures impeded the cleanup process by not only creating the mechanical issues with the equipment but also causing hypothermia and increasing the probability of contamination because oil emulsified faster in the cold.<\/p>\n

Following a federal investigation which concluded that Ashland violated the industry standards when they had reconstructed the tank in Floreffe the Federal Government made Ashland pay $2.25 million in fines and cover cleanup fees, which together with compensations to the distressed communities, amounted to $18 million.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was the second largest oil spill in the history of Western Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesThe 1988 Monongahela oil spill<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":786,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[948],"tags":[1038,1040,1048],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/tumblr_n3qbrkXWec1rr5swxo3_1280.jpg?fit=1280%2C884&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2438,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/10\/09\/from-the-mon-wharf-into-the-river\/","url_meta":{"origin":785,"position":0},"title":"From the Mon Wharf into the river","date":"October 9, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"This unoccupied luxury car had been parked on a section of the wharf that had no barrier 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