THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 18, 1995 TAG: 9511181601
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE AND MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
The company that owns the tractor-trailer that crashed and spilled more than 1,500 gallons of gasoline on Indian River Road on Thursday will be billed for the cost of the cleanup, officials said Friday.
Cost estimates were not available Friday, but a fire official said his department's expense in containing and neutralizing the gasoline would likely be several thousand dollars. That figure doesn't include the cost of several other agencies, such as the city and state police, that helped block the road and clean the spill.
The spill - originally estimated at 4,000 gallons - closed the westbound lanes of Indian River Road near the CBN complex for more than 10 hours and the eastbound lanes for more than 15 hours.
The truck driver, identified as Edward T.Cole, 29, of Moyock, N.C., was treated at a local hospital for minor injuries and released. Charges against him are pending, police said.
The truck, owned by Transport South Inc. of Chesapeake, was carrying 8,000 gallons of gasoline when it hit a curb and turned over at about 9:20 p.m. Thursday, police said. Cole told investigators the truck's load shifted and caused him to lose control.
Although the tank didn't rupture, the crash loosened seals on several fuel caps and allowed the gasoline to seep out.
Firefighters laid down heavy layers of fire-retardant foam around the area and then, using special drills to prevent sparks, cut a hole in the bottom of the tanker. That done, they could pump out the remaining fuel.
The scariest moment came about 2:30 a.m., just after the hole had been drilled in the truck and authorities had thought the worst was over.
That's when a car came up the closed off-ramp from Interstate 64, sending firefighters scurrying.
The car zipped around the corner where the accident had occurred, zigzagged slightly as it slid on slippery foam and gasoline and went past the overturned tanker. As frantic police and firefighters waved and screamed at the driver to stop, the car headed down the road - straight at the line of emergency vehicles parked there. One of them was another tanker truck being filled with spilled gasoline from the storm drains.
The dazed driver finally stopped - just a few feet from the back of the second tanker and a large-capacity fire hose stretched across the roadway.
The driver, William P. Davey of Joplin Road, was charged with driving while intoxicated and with refusing to take a sobriety test. He was released after posting a $750 bond.
Police said Highway Department crews had blocked the interstate off-ramp with a dump truck and numerous orange safety cones. But highway workers at the roadblock said the car had driven off the road to get around them and onto the off-ramp.
``If he had slid into that tanker, this whole place could have gone up,'' Carey said moments after the incident.
Two other motorists also managed to skirt barriers and drive part way into the closed off area, but police stopped them far from the overturned tanker.
More than 60 firefighters and police officers from Virginia Beach and Chesapeake remained on the scene through the night. Most - especially those who were among the first on the scene - were exposed to high levels of gasoline fumes. All were told to file health reports noting their exposure.
Despite the fumes, authorities decided against evacuating homes in the area. They said area residents were safer from fumes staying where they were, because homes were closed up against the cold.
As for gasoline in the storm drains, it was contained along the nonresidential areas of Indian River Road in front of CBN and the Founders Inn. The inn was not evacuated.
Police reopened westbound Indian River Road about 7 a.m., and opened the eastbound lanes around 12:30 p.m.
Crews from Industrial Marine Service Inc. of Norfolk, which specializes in hazardous materials cleanups, were brought in to contain the spill.
City crews dumped truckloads of sand into storm drains around the scene to keep gasoline from spreading, and the IMS workers set up pumps to clear the drainage system.
Christopher Masterson, a city inspector, said crews would later pump huge amounts of water through the drains to clean out any remaining fuel.
That water would then be pumped out and run through a filtering system to remove traces of gasoline. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN, The Virginian-Pilot
Virginia Beach firefighters and other emergency crews continue
cleanup of the gasoline spill on Indian River Road on Friday. About
1,500 gallons of gas leaked out when a tanker, owned by Transport
South Inc. of Chesapeake, overturned Thursday night.
KEYWORDS: GASOLINE SPILL HAZARDOUS CARGO ACCIDENT TRAFFIC by CNB