Quick response keeps spill contained
CONNELLSVILLE – A quick response by county and local emergency crews and favorable weather conditions contributed to the successful cleanup of a flammable chemical that had the potential to cause major problems on the city’s West Side, according to the manager of the Bradley Paint Co. William Handel, company plant manager, said he was “very pleased” with the prompt action taken Wednesday by the city’s fire departments, Fayette County HAZMAT, Weavertown Environmental Group and the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in response to the chemical spill at the Crawford Avenue site.
“It was their quickness that kept it from getting beyond where it did,” Handel said Thursday. “I think we had less than 1,000 feet of (storm water) lines contaminated.”
Emergency crews were activated shortly before 10 a.m. after a 350-gallon container of methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) fell from a tow motor that was being used to transport the material from a loading dock to where it was to be stored in the plant.
“Right now I don’t know exactly what happened at that point,” said Handel. “I am conducting an investigation.”
MEK is added to paints, paint removers and adhesives, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The chemical is highly flammable but dissipates when exposed to air and dissolves when mixed with water.
Before the container could be uprighted, approximately 250 gallons of the chemical spilled into the parking lot, said Connellsville Fire Chief Joe Childs.
“(Plant employees) immediately began spreading the liquid to allow it to evaporate more quickly, but unfortunately some of it ran into one of the storm sewer lines at the end of the parking lot,” said Childs.
The entrance into the system caused concern for the emergency personnel, he added.
“If someone would have dropped a cigarette into one of the grates, we would have had a real problem,” said Childs. “MEK is highly flammable. Just a spark from rubbing two stones together (near the chemical) can cause a fire.”
HAZMAT and Weavertown Environmental were called to assist the city departments.
Both crews, said Childs, blocked the storm sewer lines at Third Street to prevent further movement and, with help from the local fire companies, flushed the contaminated lines of the material.
“If it was raining, we would have had it everywhere,” he said. “If it would have reached the sewerage lines, it could have been in the homes and the (Youghiogheny) river.
“The HAZMAT response team and Weavertown did a great job. The city does not have the resources or the manpower to handle something like this, and both (agencies) were here shortly after we called.”
Several nearby homes were checked for any infiltration of the chemical but were not contaminated, said Childs. No one was evacuated.
Childs said crews were on the scene for approximately six hours in the 90-degree heat.
“It was a little warm,” he said, adding that Faris Distributing Inc. and Pepper’s Pizza provided ice, drinks and food for the emergency responders.
Childs said the DEP cleared the scene shortly before 4 p.m.
DEP spokeswoman Betsy Mallison said the agency found no environmental damage associated with the chemical spill.