Haz Mat Situation Friday Night Turns Out to be Acid; No Injuries

Effingham firefighters dealt with a haz mat situation Friday night.

Effingham Fire Chief Joe Holomy said a rig was traveling in the construction zone along Interstates 57/70 at 4:40pm when the driver had to slam on the brakes. The sudden action caused the load in the trailer of the rig to shift, crushing some of the smaller drums in the trailer and resulting in a leak, which triggered an alarm in the cab of the semi.

The driver pulled into the Flying J Truck Stop parking lot and a small quantity of the leaking substance ended up on the parking lot. The driver, who was not injured, pulled the rig to an isolated area and Holomy said since the bulk of the contents were intact, there was no need to evacuate people from the area around the rig.

(A CREW FROM BEST ENVIRONMENTAL OF INDIANAPOLIS PREPARES TO ENTER THE TRAILER TO FIND OUT JUST WHAT IS LEAKING)

A crew from Best Environmental of Indianapolis arrived to determine the situation and used a drying compound to soak up the liquid leaked out of the trailer. Over 36,000 gallons of the substance, known as fluorosilicic acid, was housed in the trailer in five gallon, 15 gallon and 55 gallon drums. The load had left Fairmont City on its way to West Virginia.

Once the leak was dried up, crews determined that the entire load would need to be offloaded so the damaged container could be removed and any other leaked material was cleaned up. After some searching for other companies that had suitable containers available, the work was completed overnight. Fire crews cleared the scene about 2:30am Saturday.