The Danville Fire Department maintained personnel at 642 Worsham Street monitoring the gasoline situation throughout the night. The contractor, W.E.L. Incorporated, started their clean-up operation just after midnight. They cleaned up the stay dry that was put down in the parking lot and streets placed there to absorb the liquid. They picked up the absorbent pads that were placed in the creeks and drains. They recovered the absorbent booms that were in the creek in order to properly dispose of them. Replacement booms are now in place. After their initial clean-up, they put several prevention tactics in place. We would like to inform the public they may see long white cylinder shaped objects in the creeks and drains in the area around and below Worsham Street. They are there to insure that any residual product is recovered. They may also see areas of plastic covering on the ground. This was put in place to cover areas that may have been affected by the spill. They will be in place until W.E.L. returns to remove them and the soil in that area.
The area will be returned to its original state. From time to time you may smell a slight odor of gasoline in the air which is the norm after a spill. We will continue to monitor and follow up on the incident to keep our public safe. The efforts last night were successful due to the rapid response of the Danville Fire Department and the Haz-Mat Team. This once again reminds us how fortunate we are to have a Regional Haz-Mat Response Team within the Danville Fire Department.
Barry S. Neal
Battalion Chief - DFD