Chemical spill closes one lane of Prince William Parkway

One lane of the Prince William Parkway was closed for little more than an hour this morning as Prince William Fire and Rescue personnel dealt with a chemical spill on the shoulder of the road.

Firefighters received the call at about 8:45 a.m. and responded to a portion of the parkway near Davis Ford Road that borders the Palm Pools commercial property. Palm Pools is located at 5019 Davis Ford Road.

“It was called in by a passer-by who observed some ‘yellow foamy stuff’ coming down the hillside,” said Randy Earl, spokesman for the county fire and rescue department.

Hydrochloric acid or a hydrochloric acid solution had seeped out of a storage tank from the business, down a hill and onto the shoulder of the parkway, Earl said.

Palm Pools is a fiberglass swimming pool installer. Hydrochloric acid is an additive used in pools to lower pH or total alkalinity. It also is used for cleaning empty swimming pools.

After the spill was contained, Prince William County watershed management employees and representatives from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality were on site overseeing the clean up.

At around noon, officials were waiting for a vacuum truck to arrive to clean up the liquid.

The initial test of the solution on the ground indicated a pH level of one, Earl said.

“It is still a very caustic substance,” he said.

While hazardous material officials from the fire department did not know how much of the chemical had leaked out or for how long, Earl said “in the area, there is a number of dead trees and there is dead grass that indicates that this has been going on for more than one day.

“[County and state officials] are trying to determine how long it has been occurring and from which tank it was coming from,” Earl said.

Staff writer Aileen Streng can be reached at 703-878-8010.