Oil spill closes Mississippi

 (CNN) - The Coast Guard closed nearly 50 miles of the Mississippi River from central New Orleans downriver after a collision between a fuel barge and a tanker spilled hundreds of thousands of gallons of heavy fuel oil early Wednesday.

The collision occurred about 1:30 a.m. CT Wednesday, just north of the massive bridges connecting downtown New Orleans to communities across the Mississippi, said Petty Officer Thomas Blue, a Coast Guard spokesman. The 590-foot Liberian-flagged tanker Tintomara was not damaged in the collision, but the crash split the barge nearly in half, dumping more than 419,000 gallons of oil into the river, the Coast Guard reported.

The river could be closed for several days, but cleanup could take weeks, said Coast Guard Capt. Lincoln Stroh. The oil, widely used as marine fuel, is heavier than diesel but lighter than crude, and it is likely to stick to rocks, trees and wildlife, he said.

In addition, the heavy oil will sink, causing problems for the region's drinking water, which is taken from the river through underwater intakes.