Gas Tank Leak At Old McHenry, Midlothian Slows Traffic At Start Of Rush Hour

Rush hour was off to a somewhat bumpy start if you were traveling anywhere near Old McHenry and Midlothian roads around 4 p.m. Tuesday.

A pick-up truck leaked considerable amounts of gasoline, causing a small-scale HazMat situation on Midlothian north of Old McHenry Road.

A motorist placed an emergency call in to Lake Zurich dispatch warning of the truck with its gas tank hanging dangerously close to the road. Lake Zurich Fire Department and Hawthorn Woods Police Department personnel were on the scene within minutes.

“The pick-up was traveling southbound on Midlothian Road when the incident occurred,” Hawthorn Woods police Officer Mike Viramontes said.

“The mechanism that held the gas tank in place (on the truck) failed and the vehicle was leaking gasoline,” Lake Zurich Fire Department Lt. Jeff Grant said.

Grant said the truck was driving toward a storm water drain, so emergency crews had to work quickly. 

A substance called oil dry was used to absorb the gasoline and a magnetic cover was placed over the drain and packing placed around its circumference to ensure no gas leaked in.  

Sand from Hawthorn Woods Public Works Department was also used to make certain the roadway was safe for travel, Grant said.

Another potential emergency situation could have resulted from the gas vapors in the air.   

“When vapors reach a heat source, such as a cigarette being flicked out of a car, ignition can occur, so we needed to secure the situation immediately,” said Grant.

When gas gets absorbed on the roadway, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines must be followed to remove the materials safely, said Grant.

Traffic was also slowed in some areas due to the emergency vehicles that traveled to the scene.

"We saw three to four fire engines and two other emergency vehicles, and traffic was backed up going south to Quentin just after 5:00p.m.," said Lake Zurich resident Josh Katzman, who is also a Patch freelance writer.

Hawthorn Police have not yet made a decision whether the motorist will be cited for operating an unsafe vehicle on the roadway. Viramontes said many factors, including the driver's prior knowledge of the faulty equipment, are taken into account.

Viramontes added that traffic wasn’t severely affected, due to Midlothian having three southbound lanes. He said drivers were able to get by reasonably well as crews continued to block one of the lanes where the pick-up truck remained as of 8:30p.m. Tuesday night.  

Emergency crews also remained on the scene while the gas tank was emptied so as not to transfer any remaining gas to another location when the tow truck removed it.

“Whenever gas is spilled there is a risk to public safety," Grant said. "Fortunately we were able to get control of the situation before anything serious occurred."