ANDERSON — A state agency called in a company to clean up a hazardous material spill on Anderson’s east side on Wednesday
Residents called dispatch at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday about a yellowish system that smelled like oil or diesel in a ditch along MacArthur Drive, according to Debbie Gates, the public information officer for the Richland Township Fire Department.
David Cage with IDEM said the incident is under investigation and a report could be issued in a week.
Gates said in a press release that before units could respond they were notified by a firefighter with the Lafayette Township Fire Department that it was a HazMat incident.
When Richland Township firefighters arrived they found a yellowish substance, foamy in spots on top of the flowing water in the ditch, she said.
Firefighters used booms to control the flow of the water from Drews Parts into the ditch from the west and used pads to absorb the liquid.
Gates said HazMat technicians tested the substance and determined it was petroleum based and contacted the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
The state confirmed that the substance was petroleum based and called in Indiana Spill Recovery to clean up the spill, which was confined to the ditch.
Richland Township firefighters returned to service at 7:05 p.m.
The owner of the business, Kelly Drews, declined to give his name to the Herald Bulletin.
He said they were tearing down a piece of heavy equipment.
“I just came to see what is going on,” he said. “We had an excavator that was cleaning up some stuff and a line blew and got oil on there. We shut it down immediately and just got the hoses.”
Drews said a couple of gallons of oil might have been released, adding the excavator has a 100 gallon tank and was under pressure.
Resident Sean Smith, 11 Flyntwood Drive filed a complaint in 2012 with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, Indiana Department of Natural Resources and the Madison County Planning Department and Drainage Board contending Drews Parts is in violation of the local zoning codes.
Smith said despite the complaints that have been filed there has been no action taken concerning the operation of the business located on School Street between Crystal Street and Scatterfield Road.
Immediately to the east is a housing development. Water could be observed running from the business east into the drainage ditch that runs from MacArthur Drive to Flyntwood Drive and south into a nearby lake.
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