Coleman: Oil spill on Interstate 80 'was a mess'

Traffic was back to normal on Interstate 80 Friday morning, following a truck leak Thursday that closed one lane of westbound traffic.

A semitrailer from Meigs Trucking in Portage, Wis., carrying 5,700 gallons of road oil, fractured just in front of its back dual tires around 11 a.m. Thursday, one mile west of Illinois 47, near mile marker 111 of the highway, according to Morris Fire Chief Bob Coleman.

At least 200 gallons of the oil spilled onto the roadway's shoulder and ran down the embankment into the ditch next to the highway, Coleman said. The oil was not classified as a hazardous material.

"It was a mess," Coleman said.

Agencies were able to successfully contain the spill.

"Once (the oil) escaped from the trailer, it cooled down and hardened up," Coleman said. "That worked in our favor."

Once the oil began to harden, the spreading slowed and responding agencies were able to contain it.

'D' Construction was hired to clean up the oil.

"The cleanup was well done," Coleman said after checking the roadway around 7:30 a.m. Friday.

The remaining oil that did not spill out of the truck was pumped into a second trailer and the fractured truck was taken to 'D' Construction.

The truck driver was ticketed for releasing the material onto the highway, Coleman said.

Morris and Minooka fire departments, Grundy and Will County HazMat teams, fire personnel from LyondellBasell, the Illinois Department of Transportation and Illinois State Police responded to the scene.