Hazardous Materials Response
September 21, 2015
The Danville Fire Department responded to a reported oil spill at 1062 Riverside Dr. at 9:02 am Monday. Units responding included two Chief Officers, one Ladder truck, an Engine and the hazardous materials spill unit. Upon arrival we met with representatives from Woodall Chevrolet who advised that they had a valve to malfunction and release four hundred gallons of motor oil into the floor of the parts department and the automotive shop. Most of the oil had been contained by employees of the dealership; however, some had flowed outside and due to the rainfall had gotten into a storm drain and into the Dan River.
The hazardous materials team quickly covered drains and placed haz-mat booms in the water at the storm drain outlet and contained most of the product. Some product had already gotten past the containment area and went down river. Notifications were made to The Virginia Department of Emergency Management and The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. Both agencies were given information about the situation and they in turn made recommendations about their concerns and all were addressed.
A clean-up contractor out of Concord, Va., was called in to pump off the spilled product from the river as well as the business. Cleanup crews will be on the scene at the business and at the river for a couple days conducting cleanup operations as well as monitoring for any further oil that may pool in still water areas.
Personnel at the business where extremely cooperative and helped to insure that the cleanup was handled with the least impact to the environment as possible. The spill was located below the city’s water intake. Towns below the spill were notified so that they could take proper precautions.
The Danville Life Saving provided personnel and a boat to deploy booms as well as other equipment to help mitigate the situation.
Battalion Chief F. D. Fowler