SCIO TOWNSHIP: Industrial oil spill at Zeeb and Marshall cleanup ongoing

Officials involved in first response to a HAZMAT scene that originated on Zeeb and wound up on Marshall Road say to expect restricted traffic and potential backups in and around that intersection througout the day.

At approximately 4 p.m. Thursday, an industrial hauler was attempting to transport an industrial transformer from an undisclosed site in Scio Township, when the driver noticed that the piece of equipment was leaking oil by the gallon onto the street surface.

"When he pulled onto the road he noticed the oil coming off of the tailgate end of the truck," Scio Township Fire Chief Carl Ferch said Friday, adding that the driver then pulled onto Marshall in a westerly direction, where he pulled over and attempted to right the transformer.

Rather than stop the leakage, the action worsened the leak, at which time the driver contacted the authorites and Scio Fire arrived on the scene with Wasthtenaw County HAZMAT officials not far behind.

"By the time we arrived 30 gallons of transformer oil had leaked onto Marshall Road," Ferch said. The main concern for Scio fire officials was the potential for PCB contaminants in the oil, which would be carcinogenic to the public in the area.

Fortunately the transformer had been updated by the indisclosed owner, so the oil was benign with regard to the contaminants that were initially a concern.

Scene containment was maintained at an emergency level until 9:30 p.m., after which the site was primarily a cleanup zone. The cleanup is ongoing today with no specific compleition time, according to Ferch, but in the meantime Marshall Road traffic is being kept to a single lane.

"When they had the vaccuum truck out last night nobody was allowed to go through, but today the road is open while the cleanup company scrapes the road bed to take up the oil soaked dirt," Ferch said, adding that a DTE consultant was called to the scene to advise HAZMAT and recommend an effective contactor to handle the cleanup job.

When asked who was responsible for the cleanup cost, Ferch indicated that one of the companies involved would have to cover the liability costs associated with the county's response and cleanup efforts, as well as the fees for DTE consultation and the private cleanup company's fee, but indicated that the incident wasn't far enough along for there to be a concrete answer to such questions at this time.

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Officials involved in first response to a HAZMAT scene that originated on Zeeb and wound up on Marshall Road say to expect restricted traffic and potential backups in and around that intersection througout the day.

At approximately 4 p.m. Thursday, an industrial hauler was attempting to transport an industrial transformer from an undisclosed site in Scio Township, when the driver noticed that the piece of equipment was leaking oil by the gallon onto the street surface.

"When he pulled onto the road he noticed the oil coming off of the tailgate end of the truck," Scio Township Fire Chief Carl Ferch said Friday, adding that the driver then pulled onto Marshall in a westerly direction, where he pulled over and attempted to right the transformer.

Rather than stop the leakage, the action worsened the leak, at which time the driver contacted the authorites and Scio Fire arrived on the scene with Wasthtenaw County HAZMAT officials not far behind.

"By the time we arrived 30 gallons of transformer oil had leaked onto Marshall Road," Ferch said. The main concern for Scio fire officials was the potential for PCB contaminants in the oil, which would be carcinogenic to the public in the area.

Fortunately the transformer had been updated by the indisclosed owner, so the oil was benign with regard to the contaminants that were initially a concern.

Scene containment was maintained at an emergency level until 9:30 p.m., after which the site was primarily a cleanup zone. The cleanup is ongoing today with no specific compleition time, according to Ferch, but in the meantime Marshall Road traffic is being kept to a single lane.

"When they had the vaccuum truck out last night nobody was allowed to go through, but today the road is open while the cleanup company scrapes the road bed to take up the oil soaked dirt," Ferch said, adding that a DTE consultant was called to the scene to advise HAZMAT and recommend an effective contactor to handle the cleanup job.

When asked who was responsible for the cleanup cost, Ferch indicated that one of the companies involved would have to cover the liability costs associated with the county's response and cleanup efforts, as well as the fees for DTE consultation and the private cleanup company's fee, but indicated that the incident wasn't far enough along for there to be a concrete answer to such questions at this time.

Text HERNews and HERWeather to 22700 to receive news and weather alerts to your cellphone. Msg and data rates may apply. Text HELP for help. Text STOP to cancel.

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