April 17, 2015, diesel spill near confluence of Mississippi and Missouri Rivers

Blogmaster's note - This post is a month after this incident, which was reported regionally for about two days after the event. We recently read an account of the spill from Mike Clark of Big Muddy Adventures that was so compelling we wanted to make sure it was available on the web for those attempting to research this incident. It gives a very personal, powerful account of the downstream effects of the spill which were not reported in the media. Jump to his report here.

Some reporting -

• "Phillips 66 estimates 25,000 gallons of diesel leaked near Wood River Refinery" April 17, 2015, by Jacob Barker, St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 
• "Diesel Fuel found in Mississippi River after pipeline leak" (with video and photos) - April 17, 2015, by Roche Madden, Fox 2 TV
• "Part of Mississippi River closed after Phillips 66 pipeline spill" - April 17, 2015, CNBC.
• "US Coast Guard secures Phillips 66 pipeline rupture; river re-opened" - April 20, 2015, by Gene Lockard, Oil Online - an industry news site. 

Background - 
On April 17, 2015, the Phillips 66 Wood River Refinery reported a 25,000 gallon diesel spill (later estimates state 30,000) from a ruptured underwater pipeline in Cahokia Canal, near Wood River, IL, which flows into the Mississippi River just upstream of its confluence with the Missouri. The leak was stopped and US Coast Guard crews and contractors attempted to contain the spill in Cahokia Creek. It was not completely contained, as Mike Clark's account below shows.