Ammonia spill closes Route 38

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

By Gary Weaver
Staff Writer

NEWPORT — A hose and coupling on a sprayer traveling on the road in front of the driveway to the Heritage Cooperative depot at 7265 State Route 38 southeast south of London malfunctioned Tuesday afternoon spilling 100 gallons of anhydrous ammonia.

According to Madison County Chief Deputy Bob Henry, a concerned citizen called in the spill.

“We received a call from a passerby at 12:47 p.m. on a report of a slippery substance on the road,” Henry said. “If the spill were bigger, we would have started an immediate evacuation. But as it was, there was no need.”

The spill sent up a 30-40 foot cloud of the material, created a 5-6-foot wide spot on the road, and a 30-foot rectangular puddle just inside the Heritage driveway. The puddle ran along side the grassy ditch inside the main gravel driveway.

Anhydrous ammonia is used by farmers to put nitrogen back into the ground. The chemical gives off a strong odor of ammonia (present at the scene) and can cause injury if it comes in contact with the skin. It is put in a tanker and then sprayed on fields to enrich the soil.

The driver was refilling the tanker when the hose and coupling malfunctioned. Firefighters from Central Townships Joint Fire District and Range Township, Madison County EMD, Madison County Sheriff’s Office, Ohio State Highway Patrol, Clark County Environmental Protection Agency, the Ohio EPA were on the scene.

Roger Roberts, director of the Madison County Emergency Management Agency, said that thankfully, the weather actually made a situation which could have been more serious, easily containable.

“The weather conditions actually helped as anhydrous ammonia likes water,” Roberts said. “This allowed the plume to be pulled down into the field (across the road from the Heritage depot) almost as soon as it appeared. It evaporated right away.”

Roberts also stated that the large contingent of personnel and equipment on the scene was largely precautionary.

“There was no threat to any schools or citizens,” Roberts said. “We notified the schools immediately, mainly so they could re-route buses and faculty.”

Roberts pointed out that with State Route 38 being closed for potentially 3-4 hours, traffic needed to be re-routed. Route 38 was closed from Center Street in Newport down to Drury Road.

Central Townships Joint Fire District Chief Brian Bennington echoed Roberts comments.

“At no point did this spill pose any life-safety problems,” Bennington said. “Luckily, the wind shifted right after the spill, and the cloud evaporated quickly, and the chemical was absorbed by the field. We just felt it would be better to be safe than to be sorry.”

At around 2:40 p.m., firefighters from Central Township, with Chris Bonner of the Ohio EPA assisting, began hosing down the road where the spill began. They then saturated the puddle with grit and several bags of all-purpose absorbent.

“Our first concern is the public,” Bennington added. “The cloud quickly dissipated and once the situation was isolated and we had the roads closed, it was time to wait for the EPA. And then our job was done and it was time to go home.”

Roberts commented that the hazardous material training exercise of this past summer definitely helped prepare the responders for this type of incident.

“We automatically checked off the procedures we needed to follow,” he said. “When Madison County Hospital heard the call, they immediately contacted the EMA with word that they had gone on stand-by.”

The Ohio EPA arrived approximately 2:15 p.m., and immediately began directing clean-up efforts, which were estimated to take 20-30 minutes. Roberts said that State Route 38 would re-open sometime around 4 p.m.

Gary Weaver can be reached at (740) 852-1616, ext.14, or by e-mail at news4@madison-press.com.