Substance found

Alexander Cain
The Union-Recorder

July 02, 2008 10:13 pm

— The Georgia Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division was called to Milledgeville Wednesday to investigate an unidentified substance discovered coming out of the ground about five feet away from railroad tracks on Tattnall Street across from Central City Park.
The property is owned by Norfolk Southern Railroad and the affected area is located only a few feet between the edge of the roadway and the edge of a rocky hill that borders the railroad tracks passing through the area.
The City of Milledgeville temporarily closed off access to a portion of Tattnall Street Wednesday to allow environmental crews better access to the location.
City Marshal Jack Graham called it a “greasy, grimy” substance after Graham fell knee-deep into the material when he stepped into it accidentally during a preliminary morning investigation of the site.
“I was examining the area and stepped where I shouldn’t have and went down to my knee. The fire chief and the water supervisor had to help me pull my leg out. I was stuck. I’d like to know what it was,” Graham said. “It’s a greasy, grimy substance that’s really thick.”
A similar incident took place last evening where an unidentified individual who stepped into the substance initially alerted environmental officials to the location, according to Milledgeville Fire Chief Tom Dietrich.
A call log available from the Milledgeville Fire Department confirmed the MFD responded to a 911 call near the Tattnall-Franklin Street location at 7:33 Tuesday evening.
Baldwin County Environmental Officer Marion Nelson made the calls to the state for investigation of the material late Tuesday evening — a common occurrence in these situations, according to Dietrich.
“Calling the EPD is standard procedure. If you don’t know what it is, you have to find someone who can come and help identify it for you,” Dietrich said. “To my understanding, it was last night when someone stepped into a hole that had been created by this material. We taped off that portion of this area with yellow tape and taped off an additional portion Wednesday morning when more was discovered nearby.”
As to the question of the substance’s effect on humans and if the material could leave any lasting effects, while the identity of the initial victim in Tuesday evening’s case was still unknown at press time, Graham reported no negative effects from his exposure to the material.
“I’m fine. I cut my hand a little bit on a broken beer bottle that was nearby when I fell, but I’m otherwise doing OK. I don’t have any effects at all. I feel perfectly OK,” Graham said.
A slight odor of sulfur was noticeable in the air after crews from the Atlanta office of Charlotte, N.C. based-HEPACO Inc., a contractor hired by Norfolk Southern, began excavating the material.
“They put a probe down four feet earlier today and it went all the way down,” Dietrich said. “There’s a lot of it there.”
As the excavation continued, more of the substance began to be unearthed.
The material looks similar to ballistic gel used by law enforcement officers or entertainment programs such as the popular “Mythbusters” on television’s Discovery Channel; however, a small portion of the material that had been left exposed to the sun on the topsoil Wednesday appeared to resemble more of a motor oil or light tar.
“We are still looking at an unknown substance. Norfolk Southern has been cooperating fully with us. They have hired HEPACO to excavate and examine the unknown material,” Mary Smiley with DNR EPD said.
Norfolk Southern had little to say on the matter Wednesday as representatives with the railroad company stayed on scene to assist HEPACO and decide the future of the site.
“We don’t know what it is and we’re having it tested. That’s all I can say at this point,” Norfolk Southern representative Alan Roberts said. “I can’t say what the next step is for right now. We just don’t know what this substance is at this point. It will be tested and the results should be available next week.”
HEPACO excavated an area the size of a children’s swimming pool and placed the affected soil on a large plastic tarp nearby by Wednesday afternoon.
Groundwater samples, plant samples, soil samples and samples of the material will be taken by HEPACO to its Atlanta office and tested over the next several days.
Because there is a holiday Friday, the results may not be available until late next week, according to Clem Schimikowski, emergency response project manager with HEPACO.
“We’re used to these type of projects. We’ve done a lot of this before. Right now it’s Norfolk Southern calling the shots and we will base our actions on what they decide they want to do at this site,” Schimikowski said. “We do offer cleanup and transport services but they have not hired us for those services at this time.”
Regardless of whether the material is discovered to be toxic or non-toxic, the final call on what will be done will be made by the EPD, according to Graham.
While the EPD waits for test results, a local resident was able to provide some insight by 5 p.m. Wednesday.
“It’s just speculation at this point, but between the fire chief and myself, we remembered a truck being hit at that intersection by a train 10 or 15 years ago, but we couldn’t recall the cargo of the truck,” Graham said. “After making some phone calls and speaking with a friend of mine who has lived near that location for many years, he informed us that the cargo at the time was material that is used to make diapers. We then remembered that of all the trucks that have been stuck at that location, that particular truck has been the only one actually hit because we were unable to notify the train company in time.
“It would make sense if that were the case, because the truck was drug to that location from the impact, and if you pour water on those materials it looks similar to what we dug up. If a proper clean-up was not done at that time, it could be that water seeping into the ground has had a similar effect on that material. It’s just speculation right now, but we plan to research it more in-depth, examine the accident report and see what we can find.”

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