Oct 8, 2009 2 min read

CONNELLSVILLE – Local city police and firefighters along with the Fayette County Hazmat Team responded early Wednesday to a hydraulic fluid spill along Trump Avenue. City fire Chief Dennis Petrowski said that when the department arrived they found approximately 40 gallons of the substance along the South Side neighborhood roadway.

The spill occurred when the hydraulic line of a Veolia Environmental Services truck broke as the driver was collecting the residential garbage.

“The hydraulic fluid is used to operate the packer to compress the garbage in the truck,” said Petrowski.

Connellsville police Chief Ed McSheffery said that an officer discovered the spill during the morning patrol.

“I’m not sure if the (truck) driver knew that it happened,” said McSheffery. “He wasn’t at the scene.”

Petrowski said that the county Hazmat team was asked to respond to collect the substance. Veolia also sent workers to help clean up the spill.

A drying substance was used to absorb the fluid and then it was collected and removed.

“Hydraulic fluid is not flammable, like a gasoline,” said Petrowski. “It is more of an oil.”

While at the Trump Avenue scene, the fire department was dispatched to the intersection of North Pittsburgh Street and Route 119 where a “puddle” of fluid had purportedly collected while the truck waited at the signaled intersection.

“When he stopped for the traffic signal, it was still leaking the fluid,” said Petrowski.

Firefighters used a drying substance to collect the small amount of liquid.

The Connellsville Street Department also responded to the 9:20 a.m. incident.