Insecticide spill ties up responders

By Phyllis Lehrer
Staff Writer

Published on July 03, 2009

Sixteen hazardous waste technicians worked 41/2 hours to clean up a quart of insecticide that spilled at a South Amherst home Monday morning.

Win Thorne, of 45 Western Lane in Orchard Valley, called the Fire Department at 10:52 a.m. to help with lawn and garden chemicals that spilled in a storage area attached to the back of the house, according to a press release. When firefighters arrived, an odor could be smelled from 10 feet away. Thorne called the department to see if the chemicals were hazardous before she cleaned them up, according to the fire log.

The chemical concentration was sufficiently high that crews could not enter without protective clothing, said Assistant Fire Chief Michael Zlogar, who was at the scene.

Town Manager Larry Shaffer said at Monday's Select Board that the shed had been used to store substances banned for the last 40 years. He added that they were dangerous chemicals in dangerous combinations.

The District Four Hazardous Material Response Team was called. The team is made up of staff from Hampshire, Hampden and Franklin county fire departments.

Team members donned bright blue chemical protective clothing and oxygen tanks to enter the shed, where they found a quart of an unknown insecticide in a container that had leaked. The insecticide had soaked into cardboard containers and spread onto shelving units. All the contaminated material was removed and placed in special containers for proper disposal.

Zlogar said the release was contained to the shed and immediate area and posed no threat to other properties.

A fan was used to clear vapors from the shed. Less than 50 gallons of water were used to decontaminate the area, Zlogar said.

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection was on hand to provide technical assistance, said Zlogar. The DEP will help Thorne inventory the materials and remove those no longer used.

The Amherst firefighters assisted the response team with set up, helped with decontamination of the technicians and provided medical support with an ambulance on the site.

The two fire engines, an ambulance, hazmat truck, DEP truck and staff vehicles that lined Western Lane and parts of Pondview Drive left at 3:30 p.m.

Reporter Scott Merzbach contributed to this story.