Published: February 05, 2009 11:26 am      

HazMat spills stall Highway 82 traffic

Gainesville’s sewage and water systems are safe this morning, said Public Services Director Ron Sellman.

Sellman made his assessment hours after a tank truck spilled a portion of its load at several intersections along U.S. Highway 82 in Gainesville Wednesday morning.

Gainesville Emergency Management Coordinator Steve Boone said the driver of a truck owned by Pumpco, a local pump supplier, was not aware he was releasing sulfuric acid every time he stopped his vehicle.

“Apparently, when they loaded the truck, they didn’t close the hatches on top of the tank and when they took off at red lights, they were sloshing acid on the roadway,” Boone said.

Gainesville firefighters responded to several areas including the intersection of Highway 82 and Lawrence Street and the intersection at 82 and Hospital Boulevard.

The spill near Hospital Boulevard was the most difficult to contain, Boone said.

The driver continued driving all the way to Lindsay before he was stopped inside the city limits near the Dieter Bros restaurant, he said, adding, “They spilled some there, too.”

“Our first priority was to contain the spill to keep it out of our water system,” Boone said. “Once we got it contained, we called a hazmat crew out of Fort Worth.”

Allied International, a hazardous material clean-up company, was still on the scene late Wednesday afternoon.

Officials closed Hospital Boulevard for a time but reopened it some time after 1 p.m.

Boone said the spill was serious, but was not a disaster.

“It wasn’t a major spill, just enough to cause some problems. Also, there were no injuries,” he said.

Ron Sellman said the hazardous material did not effect the city’s water or sewage systems.

“The hazmat crew kept it (the chemical) out of our waterways,” he said.

The crew’s final task was to test the pH level of the water to make sure it is safe to release back into the system.