MER Responds to Tanker Accident

5.26.2015

Charleston, SC - A passenger car collided with the tanker around 10:30 a.m. and was lodged beneath the truck. The truck was carrying 7,800 gallons of diesel fuel. The accident caused a small fuel leak, and the CFD called Moran Environmental Recovery (MER) for HAZMAT cleanup. MER arrived on scene and collected 300 gallons of fuel that leaked from the damaged tanker. An unknown amount of fuel entered the waterway through the bridge’s drainage system.

The offloading tanker arrived, and the remaining fuel was transferred, which took two hours. After the fuel was transferred, emergency personnel coordinated with towing services to separate the vehicles and remove them from the scene. 

The Coast Guard, CFD and MER dispatched units to monitor the Cooper River where fuel sheen has been reported on the water. Coast Guard / CFD crews were working in conjunction with MER’s marine team on containment efforts to make sure no more fuel leaked into the water.

One of the challenges MER faced was they were required to ground and bond the trucks, but they were over 1,500 feet from earth on the Ravenel Bridge. SCE&G was called in effort to attempt to have them hook the truck into their grounding system for the light towers, which are mounted on the bridge. SCE&G arrived onsite and advised they don’t own anything on the bridge, that all belongs to DOT. MER then consulted with DOT who advised there was a grounding cable built into the bridge for lighting strikes. MER was able to access this cable by reaching their hands under the north side railway and pull the cable onto the sidewalk. MER then had SCE&G assist with hooking up the grounding cable (unknown if cable had static energy buildup) using high voltage PPE.

The Ravenel Bridge fully reopened at approximately 7:30 p.m. Only minor injuries were reported from the result of the accident.

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