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EAST LIVERPOOL -- A tanker spilled wastewater Tuesday evening at a wastewater transfer station in East Liverpool.
The incident happened in a parking lot at the Arcwood Environmental facility on St. George Street with a storm sewer nearby.
Fire Chief Antony Cumo said the driver started to move the tanker when he noticed the leak and quickly shut it off.
Cumo said there was speculation on how much liquid which was confirmed to be wastewater leaked from the tanker ranging from 300 to 600 gallons because they weighed the trailer and the storm sewer being there. Cumo noted the EPA estimated about a quarter of a gallon of the wastewater made it into the storm sewer. It's estimated to be approximately 600 gallons.
Cumo also said the spill was quickly cleaned up by the Haz-Mat team who oversaw everything.
Cleanup was continued on Wednesday morning with absorbent material.
A news partner reported the leak did not leave the facility, and no streams were impacted.
"There's really not that much to it; there was no hazard to anyone around there at any point in time," Cumo said.
Cumo said when the leak was first reported, firefighters went door to door to houses in the area to make sure residents didn't have any smells in their homes and Chester firefighters went out in the Ohio River in their boat to make sure there was nothing flowing into the river. He also noted his department notified everybody from the U.S. Coast Guard to the EPA and Columbiana County EMA.
A call to Arcwood Environmental for information was returned saying there was no official media release sent out and the information was published on their Facebook page.
"Arcwood Environmental can confirm that the material released Tuesday evening from a tanker in East Liverpool contained wastewater from a customer's manufacturing processes. The majority of this wastewater is water, with trace amounts of metal constituents," Arcwood Environmental said in the Facebook Post. "Arcwood responded immediately to the release, and the material was promptly contained to a paved parking lot area. We are working closely with the authorities and confirm that there was, and remains, no risk to human health or the environment."