Oil spill closes Mississippi River

The U.S. Coast Guard closed five miles of the Mississippi River after a collision tore a hole in an oil tanker barge and oil leaked into the river, according to a report from the Associated Press.

The size of the spill wasn’t clear, but the Coast Guard said the tanker held 148,000 gallons of oil and the spill was less that that.

The spill occurred 50 miles upstream of New Orleans and led one municipality to stop drawing water from the river.

Image credit: Rusty Costanza, The Times-Picayune