Crystal Lake Road, Businesses Still Closed as Part of Barrington Chemical Spill Clean Up: UPDATE

CRYSTAL LAKE, IL - A road in Crystal Lake and one lane along Northwest Highway in Barrington remain closed Friday morning as cleanup continues on a chemical spill. In addition, three businesses in Crystal Lake remain closed.

The village of Barrington provided the following information early Friday:

...Eastgate Road in Crystal Lake is closed until further notice between Factory Road and Commercial Road in order to facilitate cleanup of a secondary site related to the chemical spill. Following the initial vehicle crash on Tuesday evening, both the semi trailer and the pickup truck involved in the accident were towed to Whitey’s Towing at 710 Eastgate Road in Crystal Lake. Cleanup crews assembled at the Crystal Lake site all day Thursday to begin cleanup efforts regarding the semi trailer and pickup truck. This cleanup is occurring concurrently with the cleanup at the Barrington site. Two additional buildings at 6096 Commercial Street and 6105 Factory Road are also closed at this time until remediation at the site is complete.

The chemical spill occurred after a semi tractor-trailer collided with a pickup truck at Route 14 and Hart Road in Barrington at about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday. The tractor-trailer burst into flames and 3,000 gallons of a substance originally thought to be vegetable oil spilled on the roadway, according to a news release from the village of Barrington.

On Wednesday, officials received a call from the shipping company and learned the substance was in fact a compound called Methylene diphenl diisocycanate, which is used in production of polyurethane, according to a news release. The substance can be an allergen and an irritant and the area has been isolated and spilled product is being removed by specialty technicians.

Because of this, a portion of Route 14 was closed but as of early Friday morning, the eastbound lanes of the highway and one westbound lane had reopened. It's anticipated the second lane of westbound traffic on Route 14 will reopen on Friday.

"The Village, IDOT, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, and all others involved in the environmental cleanup at this site thank the public for their patience," said Patty Dowd Schmitz, Director of Communication of village of Barrington, in an email. "All involved parties have worked diligently and seamlessly together to ensure that all areas affected by the vehicle crash and subsequent spill on Tuesday at Hart/Route 14 were properly contained and controlled."

Businesses in the area at the Foundry, as well as Wickstrom Auto Group, are open for business Friday.

Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Duty Officer George Krebs said Thursday morning there was “no risk to the water supply or to the public at this time. There is no immediate risk, no warnings, and no advisories.”

The 35-year-old driver in the pickup truck and a 49-year-old passenger in the truck were taken to Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital and later released while the semitrailer driver was treated at the scene of the crash, according to the Daily Herald. He was cited for failure to reduce speed to avoid a crash.

Photo caption: Eastgate Road in Crystal Lake/Photo credit: GoogleMaps