Highway stain a major pain Tissue dye spill on I-95 backs up northbound traffic for 6 miles

BANGOR – Traffic backed up for six miles and was stalled for more than an hour near the northbound Broadway exit of Interstate 95 on Thursday afternoon after a 55-gallon drum of bright yellow dye tipped over and leaked from the inside of an Eastern Paper truck.

One of three barrels of triethanolamine carried by the truck, the dye is not a health hazard, according to Bangor Assistant Fire Chief Vance Tripp. The dye is used to color tissue paper.

The “recommended cleanup” is to spread sand as a neutralizer, Tripp said during a news conference at the scene.

The Orono Fire Department’s hazardous material team responded to the 1:45 p.m. accident, along with the Maine State Police, a Penobscot County deputy and a Department of Environmental Protection official.

The chemical left a 300- to 400-foot trail on the highway, according to Tripp, who said traffic was backed up to Dysart’s truck stop in Hermon.

The driver of the truck, Blaine Tolman, 59, of Lincoln said he was nearing the Broadway exit when he heard a noise coming from the rear of the truck. Tolman was transporting the load from the Pottle’s Transportation Inc. warehouse in Bangor to the Eastern Paper mill in Lincoln.

Although traffic prevented him from acting as quickly as he wanted to, he eventually pulled over to the side of the road and opened the doors.

“I saw an awful mess,” said Tolman.

Coincidentally, a Penobscot County deputy happened by and notified cleanup crews, according to the truck driver.

Whoever loaded the truck mistakenly put the kegs of dye on a pallet instead of on the floor, Tolman said.

But State Trooper Robert Giles, who summoned Tolman for carrying an unsecured load, said the accident likely could have been prevented if the barrels had been braced and blocked properly.

A 29-year employee of the mill, Tolman said he typically hauls pulp rather than chemicals.

The dye is “real expensive,” he said.

As the chemical was washed off the truck tires and traffic slowly began to move, Bangor fire Captain Frank Rollins said crews initially worried about the concentration of vapors in the truck.

The condition of the road also was a concern, he said, since the chemical became “slippery and gummy” as it dried.

“It wasn’t that great a hazard, but it was a big mess,” Rollins said.