Corrosive Chemical Spills Onto Columbus Street

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – The Lowndes County Emergency Management Director said Sodium Hydroxide spilled onto College Street near the Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church. It’s a downtown neighborhood, where families said their kids play.
The Emergency Management Director said for four hours the chemical was volatile, yet neighbors said they weren’t warned of the danger.

Cleanup crews were on scene all Friday night. The EMA Director said crews will likely work until Sunday morning. Drivers had been diverted, to cut down on spreading the chemical. That’s exactly what locals said happened for hours on Friday, because, according to the local emergency management director no one, including the driver of the truck this stuff spilled from, dialed 911.

Sodium Hydroxide is used in drain cleaner and soap. If you touch it, it can cause serious chemical burns and can cause permanent blindness if it comes into contact with your eyes. That’s why the cleanup crews are in hazmat suits.

The EMA director said the driver of that truck’s first call should’ve been to 911.

“Never seen that happen where someone comes into a county, have a spill and not notify the locals. we’re always notified,” EMA Director Cindy Lawrence said.

Lawrence said it wasn’t until after nine that someone from the state called her, asking what she was doing with the spill. She said, until then,. She wasn’t aware of the spill. She said it appears the company, R-AND-L carriers called the state department of environmental quality first. She said protocol is to always dial 911, so locals can respond. She said the company could be fined for that.

The EMA Director said crews will be out there all night applying water to the neutralized chemical. She said if they’re not finished by church time it’s ok. She said the chemical is neutralized now, so it’s safe.

We reached out to R&L Carriers and have not heard back.