NEWS RELEASE
Contact: Storm Smith, 503-301-9135
May 24, 2001
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue and contract clean-up crews continue to work on the chemical spill at the intersection of SW 72^nd and Upper Boones Ferry in Tigard. The current estimate for clearing the intersection will be 6:30 p.m. this evening. Crews from RM Cat Environmental Services are off-loading pallets of chemical containers from a tractor-trailer rig which spilled some of its load at 8:55 a.m. this morning.

The driver of the truck, Daniel Autobee of San Antonio, Texas, said a motorist swerved in front of his truck and stopped suddenly, causing Autobee to lock the brakes on his truck. The sudden stop caused the 13 pallets of chemical containers to shift inside the truck and ruptured one of the 300-gallon containers. Approximately 150-gallons of tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide spilled onto the roadway. The chemical, used to etch silicon wafers, is a flammable corrosive. The chemical made its way into storm sewers, which empty into Fanno Creek.

Representatives of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and the Tigard Public Works Department took water samples from Fanno Creek this afternoon. Preliminary results indicated that some of the product spilled into Fanno Creek.

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Memo to Newsrooms: Complete results from the water tests won’t be available until tomorrow.  Follow-up inquires regarding the environmental impact should be directed to Marcia Danab, Oregon DEQ, 503-229-6488 beginning Friday 5/25. (Name and phone for news inquires only, please). Once the truck is removed from the scene, all TVF&R participation will end.