PAINT CREEK, W.Va. — Biologists from the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources are taking a look at the impact of a chemical spill which made its way off a West Virginia Turnpike bridge and into the Paint Creek watershed.
The Thursday morning box trailer crash happened on the bridge crossing Skitter Creek in Fayette, shutting down the Turnpike for 18 hours. The material, Alkyl Dimethylamine, was being hauled in a dozen 275 gallon totes. Most of them ruptured in the crash and the material leaked directly into the creek and caused a fish kill for a great distance downstream.
“As of now, they found dead fish as far downstream as Gallagher (in Kanawha County),” DNR Assistant Chief of Fisheries Mark Scott told MetroNews Friday.
The numbers of dead fish will be calculated based on a mathematical formula approved for such surveys. The American Fisheries Society assigns certain monetary values to certain species and sizes of fish. The data will be compiled and the responsible parties will get a certified bill from the state of West Virginia for the fish kill.
MORE Turnpike traffic back to normal
Scott said the final numbers on the kill could be significant.
“The most numerous fish in those streams will be suckers, creek chubs and things like that, but Paint Creek is a pretty good fishery with Smallmouth (bass), Rock bass, and I’ve seen Sauger in it. We could see some significant game fish in there in places,” Scott said.
Pictures posted to social media by residents who live along the stream showed several different species dead in the water.
Paint Creek is stocked with trout by the DNR and there is a stretch designated “catch and release.” The mouth of Skitter Creek is the mark for the lower end of the catch and release.
Scott said a few trout which may have drifted below the spot where the tributary dumps into Paint Creek may have died but believed most of the fish preserved in the “catch and release” area would probably not be impacted.