Acton, Mass.--When does a routine over-the-road diesel fuel spill
cost $14,346? When 28 emergency personnel from two fire depart-
ments arrive at the spill site in full turnout gear to handle it! That's just
the situation a driver for one of the country's largest LTL carriers
found himself in recently, according to the Spill Center, an environ-
mental claims management company serving the trucking industry.
     The driver's trailer jack-knifed in an accident with another vehicle
not far from the carrier's terminal in rural central Pennsylvania, resulting
in a broken crossover line. Based on miles traveled since his last fill-up,
the driver calculated that he had no more than five or six gallons of fuel
remaining in his tanks to leak out, reports the Spill Center, which
performed a line-by-line audit of the fire department invoices.
 From a practical standpoint, most jurisdictions don't respond to spills
this small, according to Tom Moses, Spill Center president. Yet fire
departments have a right by law to be compensated when called by
police at the scene of the accident. Could the driver have done anything
to lessen the $14,346 charge to his company?
     Since the carrier was a Spill Center subscriber, he should have
immediately called the Spill Hotline, even though he didn't feel the
release constituted a reportable spill, says Moses, a toxicologist and
attorney specializing in environmental and safety regulatory compliance,
spill response management and claims resolution.
     "A spill that seems very minor can have major consequences,"
observes Moses. "If the driver had called the Spill Center, we would
have first contacted the local fire departments to advise them of the
small quantity of fuel involved and that we had activated the carrier's
contingency plan to handle the spill," he says. "Basically we give
emergency responders enough information to decide to do nothing."
     Moses recommends that a carrier which receives an invoice from
a fire department to call and ask that the department send a copy of the
ordinance authorizing it to seek reimbursement. "Often times these laws
limit reimbursement to certain items, such as equipment, or when a
named official is on the scene to authorize work," observes Moses.
"Some ordinances require that the work be reasonable or necessary or
arising directly from the spill before it is reimbursable." Experienced
counsel should determine exactly what the ordinance specifies, he adds.
     The Spill Center looks closely at invoices as part of its auditing
service for subscribers. "Without individual audits, carriers run the risk
of not recognizing unreasonable charges such as $25 for donuts or
salary reimbursement for volunteer firefighters." There is a growing
concern in the transportation industry that local ordinances authorizing
reimbursement are becoming overly broad and unfair, with few limits
on the type of costs that can be charged, Moses reports. He has been
invited to teach a workshop for emergency planning personnel in Ohio
this summer on billing for emergency services.
     About 88% of all spills handled by the Spill Center involve diesel
from truck fuel tanks -- half from broken crossover lines and half from
punctured saddle tanks. In saddle tank releases, the average amount
spilled is 104 gallons. The average cost to clean that up nationwide is
about $9,200, says Moses.
     The Spill Center, formed in 1990, develops custom contingency
plans and provides spill management, reporting and compliance
documentation, cleanup contractor referrals, and other services to limit
subscribers' costs and liabilities related to haz-mat and fuel spills.
     For more information, contact the Spill Center, 100 Powdermill
Road, Suite 323, Acton, MA 01720. Telephone: 978-897-6461.
Fax: 978-897-9163. Or visit the website: www.spillcenter.com.



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