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A diesel fuel spill on Brandon Avenue shut down traffic for several hours Thurday as hazmat crews and an environmental contractor cleaned up the mess, but it does not appear that the spill left any lasting environmental damage.
The asphalt is stained from Thursday's diesel fuel spill, but traffic is moving again on Brandon Avenue. And the city's Environmental Administrator, Christopher Blakeman, says the petroleum company's contractor has done a good job on the worst issues .
"We're in an interesting section of the city where the storm sewer pipe network in this area is more or less self-contained," Blakeman told News7, "so none of the material made it out into the rest of the storm sewer system where it might have gotten into the waterways."
The road was shut down for several hours, while first responders and the incident response company worked to contain and then clean up the spill. It's still possible that some of the asphalt might have to be replaced, but Blakeman does not expect any lasting environmental damage.
"We're quite fortunate." Blakeman said. "We have a couple of different waterways in this neighborhood right here that could have been significantly adversely affected, and we were lucky to have this spill occur where it did. "
Blakeman said he also wanted to say thanks to residents of the neighborhood and drivers who were passing through the area. Despite having to divert traffic, and re-route buses, he says people were very cooperative. The city, he said, appreciates everyone's patience.