A 50-GALLON
CONTAINER CONTAINING A CORROSIVE OILFIELD CHEMICAL FELL OFF THE BACK OF AN OIL
AND GAS CHEMICAL SUPPLIER TRUCK. HAZMAT
SPILL IN EATON, COLORADO CLOSES U.S. 85 FOR HOURS
An employee with
Environmental Restoration works to clean up a hazmat spill at the intersection
of Weld County Road 74 and Hwy 85 Tuesday afternoon. The spill, which was a
corrosive chemical being transported by an oil and gas chemical supplier truck,
shut down southbound Hwy. 85 for several hours.
A 50-gallon container containing a corrosive oilfield
chemical fell off the back of an oil and gas chemical supplier truck Wednesday
morning, closing southbound U.S. 85 at Weld County Road 74 for several hours.
Eaton Fire Protection District Fire Chief Hugh Kane said
the call that came in at 10:20 a.m. didn’t involve any other vehicles and no
one was injured.
“It appears some straps holding the container in place
let loose,” Kane said.
Eaton Police Chief Art Mueller was out of the office for
the day. So details about the company involved and if any charges were filed
were not available.
Kane said both lanes of traffic were closed until about
1 p.m. At 5 p.m., one lane of traffic remained closed as crews from
Environmental Restoration, a hazmat emergency response company, were putting
the finishing touches on the clean up.
Kane said it could have been much worse, but the cold
weather kept the damages at bay.
“After checking the chemical against (material safety
data sheets) we determined that because of the cold weather it was unlikely to
catch fire,” Kane said. “If it would have been a warm day it would have been a
much different story. We were fortunate it was cold out.”
Kane said both the Greeley Fire Department and Colorado
State Patrol’s hazmat units assisted in the call. “It’s always a team effort,”
he said.