GAS SPILL CLEANUP ON I-55 CONTINUES

BENTON, Mo. -- Southbound traffic on a portion of Interstate 55 will continue to be limited to one lane for perhaps a couple of more days as a gasoline spill cleanup is completed, said a Missouri Department of Natural Resources official.

Only the passing lane is open near mile marker 77 just south of Benton while soil testing and road repairs are finished, said the official, Eric Sappington, an environmental specialist with DNR.

"We're trying to put a rush on this to get it all done before any rain comes," Sappington said.

A tractor-trailer ran off the road Sunday morning when its driver lost control, and about 8,000 gallons of gasoline spilled from the tanker trailer into a drainage ditch along the west side of the interstate.

On Tuesday almost all of the contaminated soil had been removed, Sappington said. Workers placed it on plastic, then covered it with more plastic as they tried to locate a landfill where it could be dumped.

The cleanup was helped by swampy conditions around the ditch, said Randy Carter, a DNR official who was at the site Monday. The gasoline was kept from seeping into water-covered soil, making the fuel easier to collect.

"In environmental terms, that helped us," Carter said.

Vacuum trucks, boom cranes and other heavy equipment have been used since Sunday to pick up gasoline and fuel-soaked soil. Up to 4,000 gallons can be held in a vacuum truck, which uses a 150-foot hose to draw up liquids. "It's kind of like a wet-dry vacuum on wheels," Carter said.

Tanker trucks were brought in to transfer some of the gasoline and water, which amounted to about 30,000 gallons, he said. The cleanup covered an area just under a quarter mile.

Constant soil testing has been conducted to monitor the contamination level as layers have been dug up, Carter said.

Cutmart Transportation Co. of Cape Girardeau, which owned the tractor-trailer that spilled the gasoline, has been helpful, Sappington said. It remains to be seen whether the trucking company or its insurer will pay for the cleanup, he said.

Any possible fines against the trucking company or its driver, Marvie Dunn, 30, of Sikeston, would be levied by the federal Environmental Protection Agency or the Missouri Conservation Department, Sappington said.

"Anytime you have a spill of this type that was deliberate or accidental, there's always a chance that EPA will become involved," he said.

A few dead birds and turtles found at the accident could bring some minor fines.

The driver of the tractor-trailer had made stops to receive gasoline at terminals in Cape Girardeau and Scott City before the accident occurred, Carter said.