150 gallons of paint, diesel spill near Apple Creek

PERRY COUNTY, Mo. -- Environmental cleanup crews were working Friday to contain a paint and diesel fuel spill that happened early Thursday morning near a tributary of Apple Creek near the border of Cape Girardeau and Perry counties.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources said about 100 gallons of paint and about 50 gallons of diesel fuel were spilled into the creek from a tractor-trailer operating for Star Transport, Inc., of Morton, Ill. While the spill occurred early in the morning, the DNR, the state's primary environmental response agency, wasn't notified of the spill until Thursday afternoon, said Larry Archer, spokesman for the DNR's Field Services Division.

The clean-up poses special challenges because the paint is mixing with the water, Archer said.

By just before noon Friday the contractor cleaning the spill had pumped about 4,000 gallons of contaminated water out of the creek, and about one mile of the creek, an unnamed tributary to Apple Creek, had been affected by the spill, Archer said.

DNR personnel on the scene observed no fish kills or immediate impact on aquatic life by about 11 a.m. Friday, Archer said.

A report will be filed following a DNR investigation of the incident and the agency will determine if any action is to be taken against Star Transport.