Zionsville — An overturned semi on Interstate 865, spilled 200 gallons of diesel fuel on the highway, closing both east- and west-bound lanes for several hours on Wednesday morning.
At approximately 4:30 a.m., a semi, driven by Henry M. Medina Linares of Indianapolis, was driving on the ramp from I-465 north to I-865 west. Linares lost control of the semi when it reached the bottom of the ramp and it flipped onto its side and came to rest in the median blocking east- and west-bound high speed lanes, said Chris Burcham, Boone County Sheriff public information officer.
The Zionsville Fire Department responded to the scene after the semi’s fuels tank was torn open, releasing diesel fuel across the highway, said James VanGorder, chief of the Zionsville Fire Department.
The left-hand lanes on both east- and west-bound I-865 were closed for approximately two hours while the Indiana Department of Environmental Management cleaned up the wreckage, VanGorder said.
“We were able to contain the fuel to the road without having it spill into waterways,” VanGorder said. “IDEM responded and once the diesel was contained, IDEM took over the site for cleanup and to make sure the contents were removed.”
Amber Finkelstein, public information officer for IDEM said the fuel was contained to approximately 90 feet from the wreck, although the fuel impacted soil in the median. The impacted soil was completely removed by early evening Wednesday; over 12 hours after the wreck.
“There appeared to have been a sand pocket, which allows the product to be moved more freely,” she said. “(Environmental contractors) had to remove more than if it had just been soil. The soil removed was disposed of properly and (the area) was remediated by the end of the day.”
Burcham said in a press release that the Boone County Health Department also was called to the scene to take approximately 30,000 pounds of food product from the semi’s trailer.
Linares, who was left unharmed, was driving the semi for Vistar Corp. of Rice, Minn. The semi was overcorrected around the noon hour and moved from the scene by Zore’s towing. According to Finkelstein, no issues with traffic were reported as of 5 p.m.
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