Great Ohio River Oil Spill of 1988: A Case Study

摘要

A recent massive spill of diesel oil on the Monongahela River provided a very real example of the vulnerability of drinking water utilities to upstream industrial spills and discharges. Nearly eight hundred thousand gallons of diesel fuel entered the Monongahela River, 25 miles upstream from Pittsburgh and eventually affected the water supply of 3 1/2 million people on the Ohio River. Fortunately the institutions for dissemination of information and for monitoring the spill were effective and very few hardships occurred. However, the spill did reinforce the need for better techniques for predicting spill movement and concentrations on the Ohio.