Hazardous materials pose risk as flooding continues

Containers of gas and other hazardous materials pose a risk to water quality as flooding in mid-Missouri continued on Thursday.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources were working to remove such containers from the water on Thursday, said Brad Harris, environmental emergency response manager with DNR.

“Our biggest concern right now is ‘orphaned containers’, things like propane tanks, anhydrous ammonia nurse tanks, other large agricultural tanks, 55 gallon drums, smaller containers that just float away because of the flood waters and they land who knows where,” he said.

Harris said the main concern is the materials leaking out into the water. He said there is not a large threat in central Missouri currently, but DNR crews have retrieved a number of orphaned containers from the I-29 Corridor, near Atchison County.

“We’ve recovered approximately 100 containers up there, but as a part of that, we have recovered about 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel that were in various containers, and it contaminated with river water,” Harris said.

DNR is working with the other states affected by this flood as well, including Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa..

“Anytime you put a contaminate into the environment, it has the potential to impact wildlife, water supplies, and just our waterways,” Harris said. “Every situation is slightly different, and so we kinda take it as it comes.”

Harris said the DNR has not seen any major hazardous materials on the Missouri River this year.

The DNR relies on people who see any of these orphaned containers or anything out of the ordinary. Anyone who wants to report such activity can call the DNR’s emergency spill line at 573-634-2436. Orphaned containers can also be reported on the DNR’s website.