A dump truck carrying 25 tons of pure lime accidentally tipped its load into Powells Creek in Prince William County yesterday, killing fish and other wildlife in environmentally sensitive wetlands less than a mile from where the creek empties into the Potomac River, officials said.
The truck was involved in an accident at 6 a.m. on a Route 1 bridge that crosses Powells Creek in Woodbridge. The truck lost its trailer and its load over the side into the creek, said fire Capt. Tim Taylor.
Crews work to clear what remains of the dump truck that crashed and lost its bed on the Route 1 bridge over Powells Creek in Woodbridge.
(Donnie Biggs -- AP)
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"Of all the places on Route 1 to have this accident, this was the worst possible place," said Liz Bahrns, a Prince William government spokeswoman.
Police said it appeared that a pin securing the front of the dump bed was sheared off when the driver hit a bump. The front of the bed started bouncing up and down, and the driver lost control of the truck and hit the side of the bridge, sending the dump bed down into the creek, police said. The truck's cab and chassis remained on the bridge. The driver was given a ticket for operating a truck with defective equipment, said Detective Dennis Mangan. Traffic on Route 1 was delayed all morning.
Taylor said the truck was en route to a construction site, where the lime would have been used to soften and dry clay. No injuries were reported, but the environmental damage was evident almost immediately, he said.
"The dump bed was lying in the creek, and there were fish floating on top," Taylor said. Other officials said they saw the creek bubbling from the lime. Some of the powdered lime had dissolved, dramatically raising the creek's alkaline level.
Lime is a generic term for calcium-based alkaline powder.
"It kills things,'' said Susan Lingenfelser of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Federal environmental officials are on site because the immediate spill area is home to migratory American eels. The eels have been petitioned for listing as an endangered or threatened species, she said.
County health officials recommended that people stay away from the spill site because lime can cause eye irritation and breathing difficulties when mixed with water. At least one dead eel was removed from the spill area, according to a witness.
Lingenfelser said the area is also home to eagles, which could be harmed if they eat any contaminated fish. She said the eagles would suffer acute burns if they tried to eat such fish.
Federal officials will monitor alkaline levels until they return to normal as the remaining lime is removed or diluted.
The immediate concern is getting the lime out of the creek.
The trucking company, which authorities identified as Myers Trucking Inc. of Hagerstown, arranged for a crew to drag the truck bed out of the creek and removed some of the lime. But state environmental officials, concerned about the area's sensitivity, took over the cleanup yesterday afternoon, bringing in experts in environmental remediation.
"We don't want someone coming in with backhoes and creating a bigger mess," said Jeff Steers, Northern Virginia regional director for the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.
Eventually, a special vacuum truck will be brought in to gently suck the remaining lime out of the creek.
Myers Trucking is still responsible for the cost of the cleanup, Steers said. Phone messages left at the company were not immediately returned yesterday.
Steers said that although the spill was serious, the lime will eventually dissolve and be diluted.
"Once it gets into the Potomac, while it's not the ideal situation, there would be enough dilution where we don't think we would see any widespread impact,'' Steers said. "Fertilizer would have been worse.''
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