First responders, state respond to oil spill

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GREENFIELD — First responders and a state agency responded to an incident that left hundreds of gallons of oil spilling onto a roadway and the surrounding area Thursday afternoon.

Corey Breese, public information officer for the Greenfield Fire Territory, said the spill occurred at around 3:50 p.m. at Davis Road and Morristown Pike. A truck had been hauling a tote carrying 275 gallons of used oil, he continued.

“It basically came off the truck and ruptured,” Breese said of the tote.

All of the oil in the tote appeared to have spilled, he continued, extending about 100 yards on the road and surrounding area, including a resident’s yard.

Firefighters worked to create a barrier and dam the spill as much as possible to prevent the oil from spreading off of the road more than it already had, Breese said.

For spills, firefighters often use foam barriers covered in cloth and spread absorbent granular material to soak up the fluid, he added.

Breese said at about 5:30 p.m. that the fire department had just cleared the scene but that the Indiana Department of Environmental Management remained.

“I think our guys — with the limited resources we had, a spill that big — I think they mitigated it fairly well until IDEM got there to do what they do,” he said.

The Greenfield Police Department also responded.