Truman’s small environmental spill a non-issue for environment

A Truman State University maintenance employee attempted to dispose of 8 cans of water-based latex paint by mixing the paint with water and pouring the mix down the drainage system into Bear Creek near the SUB. University administrations said the result was approximately two gallons of white paint being spilled into the environment. 

Kirksville Public Works director Adam Dorrell said the amount of paint spilled ultimately had no effect on the creek. 

“We found that there was no serious detriment to it,” Dorrell said. “The dissolved oxygen was fine. The temperature was fine. The PH hadn’t changed.”

The paint was found in one of the inlets to Bear Creek with no evidence of the paint being found downstream. Dorrell said the public works department met with the University staff to help with the retraining to prevent spills like this in the future. 

The director of student union and campus activities Laura Bates said the incident occurred Aug. 28 and it was reported to her Aug. 29 when Physical Plant found the inlet with paint. Bates then reported the spill to her supervisors on the same day who reported the incident directly to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. MDMR had the city’s public works department investigate potential damages, of which none were found. 

“They have been trained in disposal in the past, but it’s not something we do a whole lot of,” Bates said. “So it was [an] incidental error, which is why we reported the issue.”

Bear Creek flows into the main water source for Palmyra, Missouri but the distance and the small amount of pollutant means the contamination is null.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E3ovIGRpOBWil3lhYJnEavQklmDj81cb/view?usp=sharing

CUTLINE:

An inlet flowing into Bear Creek Aug 2 sits with water based latex paint residue filling the bottom. The paint had no effect on the environment due to the amount of paint spilled was minimal and required little to no clean-up.