MONDAY, MAY 9, 2022
Late last month, several agencies in Austintown, Ohio, worked to clean up nearly 1,000 gallons of spilled paint on a section of North Meridian Road.
The spill is just the latest in a series of accidents across the country.
What Happened
As reported by The Vindicator, crews from the Austintown fire department were called to the scene on Meridian Road around 8 a.m. on April 26 where nearly 1,000 gallons of yellow and white latex paint had fallen off a truck, spilling into the roadway and on nearby vehicles.
Several drums of paint reportedly fell off the flatbed truck when the driver stopped abruptly to avoid another vehicle turning in front of him. At the time, the truck was on its way to the Mahoning County Engineer’s Office.
Firefighters were later joined by the Mahoning County Emergency Management Association, the HAZMAT Association and Environmental Services.
An incident involving a semi and another vehicle resulted in 800 gallons of road paint splattered all over Meridian Rd. pic.twitter.com/7x27LlGnlE
— Sydney Canty (@SydneyWFMJ) April 27, 2022
Austintown Fire Chief Andy Frost said officials spent seven hours working on the cleanup. Throughout that time, crews worked to keep paint from entering any sewer catch basins with the help of vacuum systems and absorbent clay granules.
“Our biggest thing was to contain it, and again, they put down booms and oil dry. We got the road departments out putting sand, so we built a dam,” Frost said.
Any dried paint was scraped, the surface was sanded, and all remaining materials were collected.
Frost went on to note that the area has a protocol for cleaning up hazardous materials and that everything been disposed of properly.
After the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency confirmed that no traces of paint made it to the water supply and cleaning efforts ceased, the scene was cleared. According to WKBN Channel 27 News, the driver of the flatbed has been cited on a charge of assured clear distance and his company will be responsible for paying the costs of cleanup.
N. Meridian Road was down to one lane in each direction during the cleanup, but has since reopened.
Slew of Spills
Also last month, a truck owned by home improvement retail company Lowe’s accidentally dropped a container of white paint on Kelly Avenue in Edmond, Oklahoma. While it hasn’t been determined what caused the spill, around 9 a.m. on April 20, the container fell from the truck, causing a large amount of white paint to splash on nearby cars.
As a result of the incident, Lowe’s called a cleaning contractor to handle the situation on the road. In addition, the retailer asked that anyone affected by the spill should call the store so that Lowe’s could place an insurance claim to take care of detail and repair costs.
At the beginning of April, a tractor-trailer carrying paint wrecked on the Pennsylvania Turnpike near Cranberry, causing a white coating to spill along the side of the road. As a result of the incident, one person was taken to a nearby hospital.
No updates have been made regarding the extent of the victim's injuries.
In North Carolina, a large paint spill was reported to shut down a road near a ramp on I-485 in southeast Charlotte.
More recently, at the beginning of May, it was reported that a truck carrying 4,000 liters of water-based paint rolled over on Old Coast Road in Dawesville, Washington. Falcon Volunteer Fire and Rescue were called to the accident around 11 a.m. on May 5.
“The local council has arranged to have a crane deal with the truck and the paint spill has been reported to the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation,” a representative told reporters.
While DFES had no record of the condition of the driver, the representative added that “no entrapment” was reported.
In March, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet reported that it was looking for the person responsible for spilling large amounts of white paint on two state roads in Paducah.
During the search, the KYTC released surveillance video from West Kentucky Community and Technical College showing a gray pickup truck with a topper leave eastbound Interstate 24 and head west on U.S. 62. After making a U-turn at the Memorial Drive intersection near Milner and Orr Funeral Home, the truck then headed east on U.S. 62.
The transportation cabinet believes that the container of white paint the truck was carrying must have overturned while driving along the U-turn. Video surveillance shows the truck driver stopping in a passing lane for roughly two minutes. When the driver opened the tailgate, even more paint was shown to spill from the vehicle.
Since the incident, the KYTC has asked the public to report any sightings of the vehicle, as the incident has since been reported to have splattered several cars, costing some owners more than $300 in repairs.
And, in February, a 4,000-gallon tanker was reported to lose between 50 and 350 gallons of paint along East Fair Street in Kankakee, Illinois, while leaving a Valspar paint manufacturing plant. The spill caused the closure of nearby Route 50 in both directions from Grinnell Road to North Harrison Avenue. North Hobbie Avenue was also closed from East Willow Street to Route 50.
At the time, the spill was reported to be the result of an unsecured hatch on the transportation vehicle.
As a result of the incident, Kankakee firefighters were called to the scene. Members of the MABAS 7 Hazmat team and representatives of the Kankakee River Metropolitan Agency, which runs the wastewater treatment plant, were also present.
Cleanups took place over the course of the weekend following the spill, with roadways reportedly opening in stages.
After cleanup efforts were completed, Kankakee Fire Chief Bryan LaRoche informed the Kankakee City Council that an estimated 450 gallons of waste product associated with the manufacture of paint had been spilled by truck hauling company, Action Enterprise.
Since then, The Sherwin-Williams Company-owned Valspar plant has received 34 claims. According to Daily Journal, of the 34 claims filed thus far, 33 are in relation to personal filings for damaged vehicles driving through the spill and one property damage suit as well.
While the spill was initially assumed to be the result of an unsecured hatch, officials are now reporting that the circumstances of the spill have not yet been determined.
LaRoche also informed reporters that Sherwin-Williams has been going “above and beyond” in working to rectify the issue.
Tagged categories: Accidents; Coating Materials; Health & Safety; Health and safety; Paint; Program/Project Management; Project Management; Safety
