BISHOPVILLE, S.C. — A chemical spill in Bishopville led to a cleanup effort around the town Wednesday.
According to Lee County Fire-Rescue, authorities are on the site of a spill between that happened between Lee State Park Road and Interstate 20 southbound on US 15 North, North Main Street, Sumter Highway and South Main Street.
The leak is currently contained, according to officials, and the SC Department of Transportation (SCDOT) is working to cover the spill. Authorities say the product that spilled is a form of transformer oil that was being transported from a manufacturing company in Darlington County.
SCDOT trucks and a private contractor began cleaning up the five mile long chemical spill in Bishopville late afternoon, early evening. DOT trucks put out orange cones to block parking spaces and sprayed the road with sand to absorb the chemical, assisting local emergency authorities.
"My secretary told me about it. We thought we had to re-route going home, but we didn't. So that's all I know about it. Now I'm trying to figure out what did happen," Joseph Montgomery, lifelong Bishopville resident said.
Several locals News 19 spoke with say they didn't know about the spill until noticeable cleanup efforts were underway, some mentioning they heard about the spill through social media.
The truck that was transporting the oil was taken to the Pilot Gas Station on Highway 15 for further investigation.
"They had located the truck at that point. It was out near the interstate interchange and my understanding is that it was carrying some type of chemical in a plastic type container. Something caused the container to be breached or ruptured in some way and I'm not exactly sure what happened, but the material began leaking out of the truck," Alan Watkins, Lee County administrator said.
The SC Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) and the SC Emergency Management Division (SCEMD) were notified and South Carolina State Transportation Police were on scene.
SCDHEC tells News 19 they sent staff out to help in Bishopville, explaining in a statement saying in part quote, "DHEC doesn't perform the actual cleanup activities, but we will help oversee that the cleanup is performed safely with minimal impacts to the environment."
"A number of agencies were involved in determining what happened and developing a plan to address the material that was leaked onto the roadway," Watkins said.
Watkins explains while the rain has not been helpful in getting the spill cleaned up, he hopes everything can be back to normal by Thursday.
This is a developing story. WLTX will post more information when it becomes available.