(Memphis) An accident involving a tanker truck shut down a section of Sycamore View Road and Bartlett Boulevard for most of Monday.
The accident happened at about 1 a.m. Monday on the border between Bartlett and Memphis, just north of Raleigh-LaGrange Road.
The tanker truck from Star Transportation was carrying more than 8,000 gallons of gasoline when it overturned and began leaking.
Firefighters from both Memphis and Bartlett built dikes to contain the spill and keep the gasoline from flowing into nearby storm drains.
If you wanted to get around Sycamore View, foot or by golf cart was the way to go.
“I waited a little bit to come in but I still had to park my car at the property over,” said Carida Peace, an assistant manager at the Tanglewood Apartments, who was getting a ride back to her car on a golf cart.
Nobody in cars could come or go as cleanup crews and the EPA made sure gasoline didn’t leave a lasting impression on the environment.
Quick action prevented much of the fuel from getting too far down the storm drain.
“Did the fire department play a role in it not going more than 200 feet in the storm drain?” asked reporter Sabrina Hall.
“They did. They set up the containment right there at the spill site that limited amount of fuel that was able to get into the ditch so it didn’t push as far downstream,” said Steve Spurlin with the EPA Emergency Response Team.
“You would think 6,800 gallons would go pretty far,” said Hall.
“Yes. That’s a fairly large spill,” said Spurlin.
A large spill the EPA took seriously, making sure the gas didn’t ignite or harm wildlife.
As for people who live and work on Sycamore View, they had to find a place to park and walk where they needed to go.
“The parking lot was full at the gas station and parents were saying they had to take their kids to the gas station so they could get on the bus,” said Peace. “Just a lot of confusion really. I had one lady walking by me on the way in and she said ‘I can’t find my truck’. I guess she forgot where she parked it.”
The EPA says there’s likely going to be some road work in the coming days on Sycamore View because gasoline often eats away at the pavement.