The spill of diesel oil fuel from an Ashland Oil storage tank in January 1988 on the Monongahela River raised a number of technical, legislative, and administrative issues. These include as assessing long- and short-term environmental damage, evaluating regulations regarding oil tanks, and examining spill response procedures. An important research need is the development of computer models that can better predict the travel time and the concentration of contaminants should a spill occur. A history of the oil spill, monitoring the spill and damage from the spill are discussed. Includes 7 references, tables, figures.