Cleanup efforts are ongoing on Brandywine Creek after Saturday's tanker truck crash on State Route 8 in Macedonia which led to a diesel fuel spill.
The truck, carrying 7,500 gallons of diesel fuel, crashed on the ramp toward I-271 northbound causing an explosion and a fire on the creek.
The explosion makes it unclear how much fuel actually ended up in the water, Ohio EPA Director Anne Vogel said.
"We don't know how much was burned off and how much was spilled, and because of the rain event that's also occurring the creeks are moving very fast," she said. "Brandywine is a large enough body of water, as is the Cuyahoga, but it's just impossible to know how much volume-wise we're talking about."
The Ohio EPA arrived to the scene of the crash at 10:22 a.m. after several HAZMAT units were already on site, according to an OEPA statement. The public information officer for the Summit County Executive did not a return a call for comment on the involvement of the county's hazmat response team.
Soil found to be contaminated with diesel fuel was removed by separate contactors, Vogel said, and air quality monitoring is ongoing.
Over the weekend, OEPA crews used a floating boom to contain the fuel and prevent it from spreading downstream, Vogel said.
"Job number one of an emergency responder is to contain any release," she said. "That is what we do with the boom and marking off the the soil area that has been impacted, and so that was done immediately."
The creek’s water level is too high for crews to continue cleanup safely, Vogel said, but work done to contain the fuel over the weekend means an impact on other waterways is unlikely.
"We don't have, like, drinking water intakes or anything that are affected," she said. "The Brandywine flows into the Cuyahoga, which obviously, is a significant water of the state. It's big enough that ... any product that gets into the Cuyahoga will be diluted."
Crews will be back on-site next week when water levels are down to check for sheen in the water and other signs of contamination, Vogel said.
The Ohio Department of Transportation says it expects the ramp from State Route 8 to I-271 Northbound to remain closed pending an investigation and repairs.
