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LIBERTY -- Tibbetts Wick Road has reopened since Thursday afternoon's spill, but the township's fire chief says more work will happen before the road is completely cleared of its residue.
Fire Chief Doug Theobald said Friday that the spill was caused by a truck that was traveling east when a car pulled out in front of him and caused the driver to slam on his brakes and swerve left.
"(He) missed the car, but the material on the truck shifted forward and then overflowed from the trailer onto the road," Theobald said. "The material was very, for lack of a better description, that's like flour -- very fluid."
Theobald said the substance is the byproduct of steel making, and the company that hauled it was a private hauler, adding that the issue quickly became other motorists driving through the spill and spreading the material around.
Theobald said the road was closed for about eight hours and is open now, but the hauling company would like to clean the road's surface even further.
"The material is like rust, it stains the surface of the road; they're going to come in," Theobald said. "They were supposed to have a private contractor come in with either a street sweeper or some type of water action, to try and wash the surface one more time."
Theobald said the material is among the lowest on the scale of hazardous materials, explaining that you could wash it off your hands, clothes or car.
"It's when it's airborne, it's an irritant. It's classified K061 -- that is the technical term for it, it's a hazardous waste in a powder form," Theobald said. "The EPA came in, advised how we needed to have the material cleaned up."
Theobald said the trucking company hired contractors to recover the material, clean the truck and return the contents on the ground to the trailer, sucking the residue that washed off the vehicle back up to ensure it didn't track out of the area.
Other than it taking time to be accomplished, Theobald said he had an issue with motorists "totally ignoring" the road being closed, driving through and driving up to the scene.
"The point of keeping people out of it is, as the more you drive through it, the more that area that we have to clean becomes enlarged," Theobald said. "The point of trying to hold people out of that area is so we can get that surface clean."
"We had another person drive around a blocking vehicle and strike the blocking vehicle. The point of the blocking vehicle is to protect both the public and first responders and service personnel."
Theobald said the hazardous material being hauled away Friday is being taken to a hazardous waste facility, where it'll be packed up, and the trucking company has all of its bases covered.