CINCINNATI, Aug. 20, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Duke Energy continues to make major progress cleaning up an overnight spill on Aug. 18, of approximately 3,000 to 5,000 gallons of fuel oil into the Ohio River at W.C. Beckjord Station, 20 miles southeast of Cincinnati.

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The company is working closely with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Coast Guard, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection and local agencies in response to the spill.

Cleanup operations continue around-the-clock. Significant amounts of oil are being reclaimed from strategically placed oil-containment booms, skimmers and vacuums used to collect the oil.

The incident occurred shortly after 11 p.m. Monday during a fuel oil transfer at the plant on the banks of the Ohio River in New Richmond, Ohio.

A unified command center began operations at the station site early on Aug. 19 to coordinate all recovery operations and will continue until the oil cleanup is complete.

The U.S. EPA indicates that recovery of oil will continue through today, possibly tomorrow.

Greater Cincinnati Water Works and Northern Kentucky Water District have resumed normal operations as water intakes are now open. At no point was drinking water affected.

Water samples and air monitoring continue along the affected areas.

"Significant progress has been made with the remediation effort. We are monitoring cleanup operations around the clock," said Chuck Whitlock, Duke Energy president of Midwest Commercial Generation and vice president of gas operations. "Safety of all workers and the public remains our top priority."

Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Duke Energy is a Fortune 250 company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DUK. More information about the company is available at: www.duke-energy.com.

Contact: Sally Thelen
24-Hour media line: 800.559.3853

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SOURCE Duke Energy