Source: The News-Enterprise, June 12, 2012
Posted in: Rockhill Environmental Newsletter, June 2012
Two southbound lanes on Interstate 65 were shut down Monday as cleanup crews worked a wreck scene involving a passenger car and semi truck carrying a load of eggs.
Doug Finlay, deputy director of Hardin County Emergency Management, said the car and truck collided around 2:40 a.m. near the 98-mile marker. The truck flipped and rolled into a creek.
The car’s driver was airlifted to University Hospital in Louisville while the truck driver was taken to Hardin Memorial Hospital and later released, Finlay said.
The rollover into the creek resulted in the semi’s trailer splitting open, leaking eggs out of the trailer and into creek, he said.
The Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection, Pettit Environmental and Scott Nall’s Auto Service responded to assist with egg and petroleum cleanup, Finlay said. In total, about 15 people assisted in addition to emergency responders.
Kevin Strohmeier with environmental protection said eggs dissolve in water, and bacteria in water eats the egg material, causing a drop in the water’s oxygen.
Depleted oxygen can kill fish, he said.
The state environmental department will monitor the water and aerate if necessary, Strohmeier said. Ultimately, he hopes storms come through and dilute the concentration of egg.
Scott Nall’s Auto Service hauled eggs out of the creek while Pettit Environmental, a Louisville-based business, recovered petroleum.
“They’re going to be out there for quite a while,” he said around 11 a.m. Monday.
The creek in question is a tributary that flows north into a larger body of water, Finlay said.