Tanker spills sludge on Hwy. 41

MARINETTE - Highway 41 is back open in Marinette after a truck carrying industrial waste overturned shortly before noon Tuesday, and it was caught on tape. A two block section of 41, known as Hall Avenue, in downtown Marinette was closed for a few hours.

While the tanker truck was making a left hand turn into the southbound lanes of Highway 41, Dawn Pieschek was at her desk, at nearby Macco's Floor Covering Center.

"I heard just a loud thud and I stood up and all I saw was the belly of the tanker truck with the wheels spinning," said Pieschek.

That thud was heard throughout downtown Marinette.

"We heard one large boom. My wife yelled for help," said Dr. John Hallfrisch of Superior Health & Medical Center, "I saw the truck turned over and we went to the truck. I could see it was leaking black fluid."

Hallfrisch practices emergency medicine and has an office on Highway 41, close to where the truck overturned. Hallfrisch says he helped the driver get out of the truck. The driver had minor injuries.

Offiicals say the truck had just left the Marinette Waste Water Treatment Plant with a load of processed sludge.

"After a while it was a bit aromatic," said Hallfrisch.

Marinette County Emergency Management says the truck can hold about 6,000 gallons, and estimates about 4,000 gallons of sludge were on the road. The majority of the mess was cleaned up, but it still left its mark on parts of the highway and sidewalks.

As crews continued to clean up, police continue their investigation into why the truck flipped over.

The Department of Natural Resources says the sludge should not cause a problem for the nearby Menominee River, though it has made an impact on those who saw it.

"Let's just be safe and hope it never happens again," said Pieschek, "It could have been definitely worse."

The driver of the tanker truck was taken to Bay Area Medical Center. The hospital is not releasing his status.