1972 - Barge

In March 1972, a barge loaded with liquid chlorine (LCl2) broke its towline in the Ohio River near Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.A. Drifting backward in a 13-knot current, the barge punctured its hull as it struck a pillar of a dam, part of a hydroelectric complex (Figure 1). The barge was subsequently pierced by submerged concrete obstructions inside the spillway. The four 21-metre long tanks held a total of 640 tons of liquid chlorine, capable of releasing a poison gas cloud into Louisville, just downwind.

In March 1972, a barge loaded with liquid chlorine (LCl2) broke its towline in the Ohio River near Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.A. Drifting backward in a 13-knot current, the barge punctured its hull as it struck a pillar of a dam, part of a hydroelectric complex (Figure 1). The barge was subsequently pierced by submerged concrete obstructions inside the spillway. The four 21-metre long tanks held a total of 640 tons of liquid chlorine, capable of releasing a poison gas cloud into Louisville, just downwind.

On recommendation of the Environment Protection Agency (EPA), the National Response Team was activated and the Office of Emergency Preparedness joined in the effort to avoid a national disaster.

To prevent the heavy barge from breaking loose and tumbling over the dam, a large salvage catamaran was brought in and tied to the barge by cables. Plans were then made to offload the chlorine to another barge by slowly reducing the pressure inside the tanks. Any gas released would be neutralized by bubbling it through a caustic solution. As an extra precaution, a high-pressure spray of water was set up and directed downward from the superstructure of the dam toward the tanks. The spray was to force any leaking chlorine back into the water. Instruments were also set up to detect chlorine in the air or water, and part of the city was evacuated as a precaution. The tanks were emptied of chlorine without incident and no chlorine escaped.