Marshfield Fire & Rescue Assists with Hazmat Incident
MARSHFIELD, WI (OnFocus) – Emergency responders assisted with an incident Tuesday in which a milk tanker tipped over while traversing the roundabout at HWY 10/Klondike and HWY 80 south of Marshfield.
“Thankfully, there was only milk in the tanker, but believe it or not, milk in large quantities like this are handled like a Hazardous Materials incident,” said Marshfield Fire Chief Pete Fletty. “If large quantities of milk enters streams or rivers, it can harm fish and other wildlife. Basically, when large quantities of milk breaks down in water, it creates a high biological oxygen demand that can result in fish kill.”
The Marshfield Fire & Rescue (MFRD) HazMat unit was requested by the Wood County Sheriff’s Department for the spill. The specific tanker that rolled over at the roundabout at STH 10 and STH 80 was capable of holding 63,000 pounds of milk and was estimated to be holding 42,000 pounds at the time of the incident.
“Although the vessel was damaged, the only place it was leaking was from the fill hatch,” said Fletty. “Our crew tightened the hatch as much as possible to slow down the leak and used catch basins, barrels, and absorbent booms to contain the milk from entering ditches or storm drains.”
The tractor trailer was eventually up-righted by a towing company and the milk was off-loaded into another tractor trailer.
“The milk from our catch basins was also off-loaded and disposed of via the Wood County Highway Department,” said Fletty.
We welcome your stories! Contact us at [email protected]!
Author: News Desk
This piece was posted by our news team! Contact us or submit stories at [email protected].
