APRIL 7, 2015
SPENCER, WEST VIRGINIA
Sodium bisulfate solution spilled shut down part of Main
Street in Spencer Tuesday night, according to a Roane County 911 dispatcher.
An unknown amount of the chemical leaked out of plastic
containers on a truck parked across from the First Neighborhood Bank
drive-thru, the dispatcher said.
Kelley Gillenwater, spokeswoman for the state Department of
Environmental Protection, said Tuesday night that an estimated less than 10
gallons of sodium bisulfate solution spilled. However, Gillenwater said
Wednesday morning that the spill could have been more than 10 gallons.
The chemical can irritate skin, respiratory tracts and eyes,
and can burn eyes if left untreated, according to a material data safety sheet
she provided. Ingestion may cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or more serious
symptoms, including death.
Gillenwater said a truck owned by Estes Trucking and based
out of Belpre, Ohio, was coming from Ravenswood in Jackson County when the
driver stopped in Spencer around 3 p.m. She said the truck was hauling other
freight, like appliances, in addition to the chemical containers, and she
didn’t know why the driver stopped in Spencer.
When the driver opened the door while parked at 329 Main
Street, he noticed that one of the containers — which had been loaded valve to
valve — had opened and the chemical had leaked out, Gillenwater said. She said
the DEP received the report shortly before 6 p.m. Tuesday.
A less than a half-mile stretch of Main Street from Market
Street to W.Va. Route 14 was still closed around 8:30 p.m., the dispatcher
said. DEP emergency responders were either en route or on scene by about 9:30
p.m., Gillenwater said, to oversee the cleanup and see whether the chemical may
have entered waterways.
She said the DEP is examining whether the chemical entered a
storm drain connected to a creek, but noted that Ohio-based Environmental
Management Specialists, which Estes Trucking had called to clean-up the
situation, was already on the scene and had placed a buffer between the storm
drain and the truck.
The dispatcher said the truck had picked up the containers,
which were supposed to be empty, in Ravenswood.