6/24/2016 3:30:00 PM
Diesel fuel spill in Minocqua cleaned up rapidly
No injuries reported
Dean Hall/Lakeland Times
Workers at the cleanup site in the wetland area behind El Mez after a tanker became disconnected from a Ritchie Propane tractor Thursday morning.
Heather Holmes/Lakeland Times
The tanker that became disconnected from a Ritchie Propane and Oil tractor in the turn lane of County Highway J between U.S. Highway 51 and State Highway 47. That stretch of Hwy. J was closed until Thursday afternoon.
Brian Jopek
Reporter
Approximately 2,400 gallons of diesel fuel spilled onto the pavement of the right turn lane of County Highway J early Thursday morning after a tanker carrying the fuel became disconnected from the tractor that was pulling it.
That stretch of Hwy. J between U.S. Highway 51 and State Highway 47 remained closed for several hours as efforts to remove the trailer and tractor, belonging to Ritchie Propane and Oil of Minocqua, from the roadway, along with the initial cleanup of the fuel, progressed.
The diesel fuel made its way into storm sewers and the marshy area behind the El Mez Mexican restaurant.
The cleanup continued into the late hours Thursday night and all day Friday.
Andrew Savagian, with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, said Friday members of DNR staff were still working on exactly how much of the fuel was released to the environment but that workers at the scene estimated the majority of diesel fuel spilled had been recovered, including fuel that entered the storm sewer.
"Remaining product is contained in the boomed area within the wetland," he said. "Workers have been recovering diesel fuel throughout the night and morning and will continue through today, the weekend and next week if needed. It's too early to know exactly when cleanup will be complete."
Savagian said DNR staff have been on the scene to monitor the cleanup and will continue to do so.
"At this time, staff have not observed any fish kills or other impacts to wildlife and they do not believe any of the remaining product will reach Minocqua Lake," he said.
Dave Walz, a warden supervisor with the DNR's Woodruff office, echoed Savagian's comments.
He's made several trips to the cleanup sites and has met with workers with REI Engineering out of Wausau who have been involved in the cleanup.
"I was just out at the site here a little bit ago (Friday afternoon) and I met with some of the guys with REI," Walz said. "It sounds like they're progressing very well. Fortunately, we haven't had any rain so that's helping."
He said all the diesel fuel that had spilled into the storm sewer had been removed by Friday morning.
"That won't continue to flush back into the wetland area," Walz said. "So, now they're working on getting the diesel fuel out of the wetland. A lot of that's been taken care of. It's not the bright red anymore from the fuel. You can see a little bit of red, a light sheen on the water but not much. There's still some smells down there, of course. That was captured in the soil on the shoreline but they'll get that out as well. It looks like they're making some really good progress."
Walz said he anticipated the cleanup operation to wrap up in the next few days and then there would be a period of time for monitoring the area.
"In talking with REI, it sounds like they'll be monitoring into the near future," he said. "I think they'll continue to monitor for a little while just to make sure they got it all, probably after the next couple rain event or two."
Walz said this sort of thing was a constant occurrence when he was working in the field for the DNR in southern Wisconsin.
"It would be on the interstate or something like this," he said. "It's quite common, unfortunately. Sometimes, it'll be a car hitting the saddle tanks of a semi so it might be up to 100 gallons. Other times it's a rollover or something similar to this where it could be thousands of gallons. It happens. That's why it's good we have environmental companies that are trained to handle that."
Walz gave a lot of credit to the quick response from the Woodruff and Minocqua fire departments as well as the Oneida County Haz-Mat team.
"With their having enough boom to get out into the wetlands right away before the spill could get pushed out any further, it worked out very well," he said. "It could've been worse."
'It was just a freak accident'
The official report from the Wisconsin State Patrol regarding the disconnection of the tanker from the tractor pulling it was not available at press time.
However, Matt Ritchie said the driver of the Ritchie truck said a red car was pulling out of Packing Plant Road as the rig approached.
"It blew a stop sign, which caused our driver to lock up the brakes," he said.
Ritchie said that particular rig had been to Green Bay and back overnight and there were no issues on that trip at all.
However, he said, according to the Ritchie truck driver, as the driver was in the lane going onto Hwy. J, the red car, driven by a female, went through the stop sign.
"He locked up the brakes and that caused the kingpin to release from the fifth wheel," Ritchie said.
He said the company has been notified by Peterbilt, the manufacturer of the 2013 tractor, that there's the possibility of a recall for that year.
"We're not guaranteed that, we're not blaming it on that," he said. "We're not blaming anybody, we're not blaming ourselves ... it was just a freak accident. It probably couldn't have been preventable. We wish it could have been."
Ritchie said personnel with the Department of Transportation did a full inspection of the rig and no citations were issued.
He said what diesel fuel leaked out was not a full load in the tanker, which he said can carry a 5,000 gallon full load.
"The tank was about a quarter full," Ritchie said. "We did pump some out so we know it didn't drain completely, which is a good thing."
He said REI had been contacted by the company immediately and he was told Friday 60 percent of the spill had been cleaned up and that maybe 75 percent of it by the end of the day Friday.
"The other 25 percent will take about a week," Ritchie said. "They're running skimmers and field water separation."
He said the spill was contained within 90 minutes of the accident.
"We are working with the DNR in making sure the site is 100 percent the exact same as it was before," Ritchie said. "We're doing everything we possibly can."