Bio-diesel spill occurs in Cherokee

by Jul 25, 2014Front Page, NEWS ka-no-he-da0 comments

Crews use sand to clean up a Bio-diesel spill on US19 in Cherokee on Thursday, July 24.  (Photo courtesy of EBCI Public Safety)

Crews use sand to clean up a Bio-diesel spill on US19 in Cherokee on Thursday, July 24. (Photo courtesy of EBCI Public Safety)

The EBCI Public Safety Communication Center received a report at 2:54pm on Thursday, July 24 of a Bio-diesel spill on the southbound lane of Tsalagi Rd (aka-US19) toward Bryson City. The southbound lane was shut down to traffic due to approximately 60 gallons of Bio-diesel that had been spilled over an area covering 1/10th of a mile.

A Cherokee Boys Club, Inc box truck carrying an undisclosed amount of bio-diesel was traveling the stretch of road and the bio-diesel load shifted causing a pipe to break under the box carrier which caused the approximated amount to spill onto the roadway.

Traffic was rerouted from traveling the stretch of roadway until Tribal DOT, Tribal Construction and the Cherokee Boys Club, Inc. could clean the spill up, using sand to soak it up. Traffic resumed a few hours later.

No one was injured during the spillage nor during the cleanup.

– EBCI Public Safety