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FM 1488 Latex Leak
  
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By BRAD MEYER
A weekend spill by a road construction contractor damaged several vehicles and snarled traffic for hours last weekend.
The incident occurred around 12.45 p.m. Nov. 1 when approximately 50 gallons of a nontoxic latex substance used in curing concrete leaked from a truck owned by W.W. Webber onto FM 1488 near Jones Lake and the Carriage Hills Subdivision.
Officials with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department, Department of Public Safety and Needham Fire and Rescue responded to the scene to close one lane of the highway and remove the material from the roadway.
“The material was not toxic and did not get into environmentally sensitive areas in Jones State Forest,” Needham Fire and Rescue Capt. Steve Brooks said. “We were able to contain the spill and clean it up.”
The spill occurred in close proximity to the habitat of the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker at Jones State Forest. Officials were concerned the material might get into streams and waterways, but quick response prevented that from happening, Brooks said.
One lane of the highway was closed for approximately four hours, Brooks said, with MCSO deputies assisting in traffic control while the spill was contained and removed.
Prior to the road closure, however, several vehicles drove through the spill and were splashed with the latex material. Among them was a sport utility vehicle driven by John Warner, Urban District Forester with the Texas Forest Service.
“I tried washing it off my car, but it would not come off the moldings,” he said.
Representatives from W.W. Webber provided a cleaning service for those unable to wash the material off their vehicles, Brooks said.
W.W. Webber is a Texas-based contractor working on the FM 1488 roadway expansion.
The incident occurred around 12.45 p.m. Nov. 1 when approximately 50 gallons of a nontoxic latex substance used in curing concrete leaked from a truck owned by W.W. Webber onto FM 1488 near Jones Lake and the Carriage Hills Subdivision.
Officials with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department, Department of Public Safety and Needham Fire and Rescue responded to the scene to close one lane of the highway and remove the material from the roadway.
“The material was not toxic and did not get into environmentally sensitive areas in Jones State Forest,” Needham Fire and Rescue Capt. Steve Brooks said. “We were able to contain the spill and clean it up.”
The spill occurred in close proximity to the habitat of the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker at Jones State Forest. Officials were concerned the material might get into streams and waterways, but quick response prevented that from happening, Brooks said.
One lane of the highway was closed for approximately four hours, Brooks said, with MCSO deputies assisting in traffic control while the spill was contained and removed.
Prior to the road closure, however, several vehicles drove through the spill and were splashed with the latex material. Among them was a sport utility vehicle driven by John Warner, Urban District Forester with the Texas Forest Service.
“I tried washing it off my car, but it would not come off the moldings,” he said.
Representatives from W.W. Webber provided a cleaning service for those unable to wash the material off their vehicles, Brooks said.
W.W. Webber is a Texas-based contractor working on the FM 1488 roadway expansion.
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