January 30, 2009, at approximately 2100 hours, a tanker truck owned by Fuels Transportation Inc. (FTI) was carrying 12,600-gallon of gasoline when it crashed on Telegraph Road north of Wilson Ave in Dearborn Heights, Michigan. The crash resulted in a discharge of 2,600-gallons to the road surface and consequently to the storm sewer. The storm sewer leads to the Detroit Waste Water Treatment Plant, then to the Detroit River.
The initial response included the Dearborn Fire Department, Western Wayne County Hazmat Team (WWCHMT), and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. The responders found that the tanker was leaking from five different areas, sprayed the area with foam, and evacuated homes and businesses in a four-block radius of the overturned tanker and setup air monitoring. A survey of the area found that a storm sewer was located approximately 150 feet downgradient along the curb of Telegraph Road.
At 2130 hours, FTI hired Emergency Response Group (ERG) as the cleanup contractor. ERG patched the tanker, bounded and grounded the tanker to prevent statistic electricity, and then started the removal of remaining gasoline. Additional work included placement of absorbent boom in downstream manholes and vacuuming of the sewer system.
January 31, 2009, the tanker was righted and removed, and the evacuation was lifted. The affected road surface was washed and the run-off collected. Additional work included jetting the sewer system and collecting additional water. At approximately 1500 hours, Telegraph Road was reopened, while jetting and vacuuming continued in the far left lane.
February 1, 2009, at 1000 hours work was completed. In summary, approximately 10,000 gallons of gasoline were recovered from the tanker, 2,600 gallons of gasoline were discharged, and 28,800 gallons of wastewater were collected from the sewer and road. U.S. EPA OSC Brian Kelly issued a Notice of Federal Interest to FTI. Federal action was limited to monitoring of the progress.
Cleanup is complete and no further action is anticipated.
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