Stockwell, Ind.-Investigators for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) are still trying to determine the number of fish kills and other damage in the south fork of Wildcat Creek from the release of several hundred gallons of anhydrous ammonia late Friday, May 28, after a truck pulling two trailers with ammonia tanks slipped off the side of a county road. “The investigation is still continuing to assess damages,” IDNR spokesman Martin Benson told Green Markets. “It appears that about a quarter mile of the stream was affected.” The incident also brought responses from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), the Tippecanoe County sheriff, and the Sheffield Township emergency response team, which had a family evacuated from one nearby residence. The local press reported that a car drove through the chemical cloud, and one passenger was treated and released at a local hospital. IDEM Spokeswoman Amy Hartsock said the two tanks rolled into a ditch and the valve on one of the tanks was damaged during recovery efforts. She said some of the chemical got into a nearby tributary of the south fork of Wildcat Creek. Hartsock said the cleanup, which involved diking part of the stream and pumping the water onto nearby land, continued over the Memorial Day weekend. There was also some contaminated soil that had to be removed, Hartsock added. Estimates were that about 1,000 gallons escaped, but that number was not confirmed. The driver was towing two tanks from Crop Production Services, which sent out workers to help upright the tanks and dam up the stream to prevent the spread of ammonia into Wildcat Creek. The Tippecanoe County sheriff said there were no citations resulting from the accident, which occurred at approximately 11 p.m.
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