Authorities Continue to Monitor Runaway Barges

Frank Zagari usually sees a crowd during lunch and dinner at Rocky’s II Restaurant and Lounge in Stowe Township, but on Wednesday afternoon only three people sat in the lounge and the lunch crowd hours earlier was sparse.

Emergency officials shut down the Fleming Bridge for most of the day after four barges, including one that contained hazardous benzene, broke away from a boat on the Ohio River while it was preparing to enter the Emsworth Locks and Dam.

The runaway barges prompted federal, state and local salvage efforts in the river near Neville Island and kept emergency teams busy all day as they sought to prevent a leak or spill.

At Rocky’s, however, business remained slow. The office workers who regularly come for lunch or at the end of the day weren’t stopping in on Wednesday.

“Business is probably down about 80 percent,” said  Zagari, who has owned Rocky’s for 15 years. “A lot of our business is off the island.”

Traffic along Island Avenue and Neville Road continued to flow past the business as motorists who were blocked from the Fleming Park Bridge that connects Neville Island to Stowe were rerouted, either onto Route 51 toward Interstate 79 or toward the McKees Rocks Bridge. The bridge did not reopen until Wednesday night.

Cmd. Richard Timme of the U.S. Coast Guard's Pittsburgh office, said the barges became stuck in a back channel of the Ohio River that isn’t navigable. Timme said similar barges carrying 2 million tons of petroleum routinely pass down the Ohio River each year.

The greatest priority was to salvage the barge carrying benzene, a toxic and flammable component of coal-tar light oil. On Wednesday afternoon, authorities used a series of barges powered by four towboats to dislodge that barge from the shoreline near the CSX Railroad Bridge.

Three other barges– an empty one stuck on the opposite side of the railroad bridge, a second carrying steel coils that sunk nearby, and a third carrying coal that went a bit farther downriver and got hung up at the Emsworth Locks and Dam -- didn’t affect river traffic.

Authorities planned to salvage the empty copper barge Wednesday night from the railroad bridge. The others would be rescued at some point soon, officials said.

Paul Pochatko of Stowe said he and other nearby residents were worried primarily about the flammable materials on the barges and the potential dangers the materials might pose to citizens.

“Depending on the way the wind blows, that’s the only thing we were concerned about,” Pochatko said.

Timme said the remaining barges posed no serious threats or environmental hazards.

For the Army Corps of Engineers, the coal barge remains a concern.

Kathy Griffin, chief operations division with the Army Corps of Engineers, said the barge at the Emsworth Locks and Dam was acting as an obstruction and preventing free water flow. She said water at the Emsworth dam is raised and lowered to maintain a navigation pool, but water elevation is affected if the gates can't be opened or closed.

“The coal barge is laying up against the dam abutments,” she said. “The coal barge does interfere.”

Still, the remaining barges have to remain until river levels come down. The barge stuck on the Emsworth Locks and Dam would pose more of a threat to the infrastructure if removed now rather than waiting until water levels fall, Timme said.

“It’s better off for everybody if it stays where it is as the river [level drops],” said Timme.

Timme and Griffin estimated it could take days, possibly weeks, before the barge can be removed. A crane will be needed to raise the sunken barge, Timme said.

Timme said the responsibility for the barges remains with the cargo owners. The high-priority barge carrying hazardous coal belonged to Marathon Ashland.

Timme said the Coast Guard will require a more thorough investigation, which could result in civil penalties depending on what is found. He said high waters and fast river currents were likely to blame for the mishap.

Owners of other towboats that were in port volunteered to help retrieve the runaway barges, he said.

“The lock and dam is crucial to everybody on the river,” Timme said.

Alvin Henderson Jr., acting chief of Allegheny County Emergency Services, was overseeing the county’s response and said an emergency plan was put in place Wednesday morning. TheSto-Rox School District decided to cancel classes for the day, he said.

“That was a decision they decided to make on their own,” Henderson said.

Ohio Township Police Chief Norbert Micklos said only the Sto-Rox middle and elementary school in Kennedy was evacuated. The school had an early dismissal at 11 a.m. for parents who could pick up their children. Other students went home on their regular buses.

Zagari said his restaurant  wasn't evacuated, though he said for insurance purposes it might have helped to do so in order to recoup the day's losses. The bridge reopened shortly after 8 p.m. Wednesday. The Sewickley Bridge remained open.