HOOD RIVER, Ore. -- Crews were able to free a barge that ran aground on a silt bar in the Columbia River near the mouth of the Hood River Friday.

The Coast Guard monitored the massive gasoline transfer from a grounded barge to another. Photos: Barge aground

The New Dawn was stuck in a large silt deposit at the confluence of the Hood and Columbia rivers since early Thursday morning. The Coast Guard had been coordinating with the tug charter company and the Army Corps of Engineers for some 36 hours to refloat the vessel.

The transfer worked and the barge began moving off the bar Friday evening.

Tidewater Tugs and Barges, which operates the grounded New Dawn tanker, was managing the mid-river transfer of up to 119,000 gallons of gasoline per hour from one massive ship to another.

"Had a long couple of days, everybody's ready to wrap it up and get some shut eye," said John Pigott of Tidewater.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency praised the operation from beginning to end. 

"We had gasoline, as you know, in the barge, and we had no releases from that barge.  We had a lot of counter measures in place.  We had lots of inspections to make sure nothing was leaking," added Richard Franklin.

Even after the barge was freed, coast guard officers and crew members double checked the vessel's inner and outer hauls. 

"This will be a second time to reconfirm in the process of bringing the barge off the sandbar we didn't incur any other damage," said Pigott. 

Attempts to free the grounded barge New Dawn with additional tug boats were unsuccessful on Thursday, and the Coast Guard approved a plan for an empty fuel barge to be brought alongside the New Dawn to transfer gasoline in the middle of the river.

Courtesy: Peyt Turner

Kite surfers and others recreate around a massive gas barge grounded in the Columbia River on July 9.

The process, known as lightering, posed significant environmental risks but was necessary to free the New Dawn from the river bottom, Lt. Ryan Harry said.

The transfer began just before 11 a.m., removing the tanker's gas load. A fuel boom, which looks like a large fire hose, was in place in the event of any spillage into the Columbia River.

No gas leaked, the Coast Guard said.

Courtesy: Peyt Turner

A tug ran aground in the Columbia River near the Hood River confluence.

It is damage from a freak incident in an ever-changing environment. 

 "There will be a lot of discussion about how that came to be, but we're sure in the end we'll find a proper solution and ensure that waterway will, once again, be safe for all navigators," added Pigott.

>View Barge stuck in a larger map