Merrimack Fuel Spill Dumps Diesel On Roadway For Over A Mile

MERRIMACK, NH - On October 2, 2020 just before 8 am Merrimack Fire Rescue and Merrimack Police responded to a report of a large fuel spill at Patten Rd and Joppa Rd. The initial report was there was a truck involved in the incident.

Fire crews arrived on the scene and found diesel spilled in the roadway, and there was no vehicle on the scene. Police and fire followed the trail of diesel on Joppa Rd and located a Ford F350 truck near the intersection of Joppa Rd and Forest Dr.

No driver was on the scene but the truck fuel tank was spilling diesel fuel on the lawn of a house.

Merrimack Fire requested Merrimack DPW to the scene to assist. Merrimack DPW using a sanding truck covered the roadway in sand. At some of the parts of Joppa Rd the fuel spill was in both lanes of travel.

NH Department of Environmental Services was notified based on the amount of fuel.

After inspection of the truck it appears the fuel tank dropped from the truck and was the cause of the diesel spill.

The driver of the truck returned to the scene and spoke to fire personnel. He indicated he thought he was losing coolant, and at one point turned around leaving diesel in the roadway in both directions. He drove the vehicle and parked it on the side of the road when he realized it was diesel fuel. The spill covered more than a mile of the Joppa Rc.

NHDES, MFR, and Merrimack DPW worked together to mediate the spill. A containment basin was set up under the vehicle to contain the remaining diesel. Oil-Dri was applied to the lawn of the house.

NHDES recommended that DPW use an empty street sweeper to pick up the sand which had been applied to Joppa Rd, and isolate the contaminated sand.

The sand and the Oil-Dri will be consolidated on a tarp and a hazardous material company will remove the contaminants from the scene.

Parts of Joppa Rd were reduced to one lane while crews worked to clean the spill

©Jeffrey Hastings www.frameofmindphoto.com/news