Cleanup efforts continue after North Franklin crash

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Straw dams sit in a waterway along Vankirk Road in North Franklin Monday afternoon.

Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

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A large pump, center, sends water from a tributary that feeds into Chartiers Creek along Vankirk Road in North Franklin through tubing and up, into a truck, which will take the water for testing. According to Bob Sabot, since this weekend, hundreds of thousands of gallons of water have been pumped into trucks for testing.

Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

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Crews work to clean up a tributary that feeds Chartiers Creek along Vankirk Road Monday afternoon.

Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

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State agencies are continuing to oversee efforts to clean up in North Franklin Township after a tanker truck crash last week.

Bob Sabot, chairman of the North Franklin board of supervisors and the township’s emergency management coordinator, said the tanker involved in the accident was carrying a “floor wax material.”

The accident occurred shortly after 2 a.m. Thursday near the 13 mile marker on Interstate 70. According to state police, Eric Joseph, 48, of Riviera Beach, Fla., was driving the tanker truck in the eastbound lanes when he lost control and crossed over the grass median into opposing traffic.

Joseph crashed into a car being operated by Lewis Stiltner, 44, of Belle Vernon, who was flown to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh with an unspecified injury.

Material from the tanker truck spilled into the area of Vankirk Road beneath I-70. Sabot said Bull & Bear Co., based in Cincinnati, Ohio, is responsible for the cleanup, while the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will monitor the work. The Fish and Boat Commission was also on site to track any potential harm to aquatic life.

Mike Parker, the Fish and Boat Commission’s communications director, said Monday afternoon that they had not discovered any dead or injured wildlife.

Sabot said the material leaked into creek runoff that feeds into Chartiers Creek. As of Monday, crews had siphoned about 350,000 gallons of water.

“They’re damming it up with straw, then they are putting pumps down there,” Sabot said.

Sabot added that the straw dams should also help catch the floor wax before it reaches Chartiers Creek.

According to Sabot, the township’s concerns with the long-term impact of the crash are “two-fold.”

“One would be that we don’t know if there is going to be any well water that is damaged for residents who live along there,” Sabot said.

Another issue will be the damage to Vankirk, which is a township road. Sabot said it is not built for the heavy equipment currently being used for cleanup efforts, and that they likely will need to make repairs.

The DEP did not respond to a request for comment.