A chemical spill that diverted traffic for seven hours last Friday west of Jamestown, N.D., on Interstate 94 left a miniscule mark on a nearby water body, according to state officials.
A test on Tuesday confirmed the presence of the insecticide Govern, at 1.82 parts per billion, in a slough about 15 feet away from where the spill occurred, said Dennis Fewless, director of the Division of Water Quality for the North Dakota Department of Health. The level needed to mildly affect wildlife is 50 ppb.
"We are way below any concentration level of concern of the pesticide in the slough," Fewless said.
The Material Safety Data Sheet for Govern indicates fumes from the substance are an inhalation hazard and irritant and the chemical is flammable.
Kris Roberts, environmental scientist 3 with the division, explained the how much of the substance is needed to affect wildlife.
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The most sensitive aquatic species did not experience a total kill when exposed to levels less than 100 ppb, Roberts said. The insecticide is moderately toxic to birds in levels between 50 and 100 ppb.
"Our management sees no need to resample or do anything further at this time," Roberts said.
Govern has an aquatic half-life of three to four weeks, meaning it will take three to four weeks before it starts breaking down by half. On soil Govern will start degradation in 30 to 60 days, Fewless said.
Roberts said the slough was possibly contaminated after the mist from the cars that initially drove through it found their way to the water, or microscopic particles in the air made their way to the slough.
"Nothing flowed to that water," he said.
Higher concentration levels could have meant problems from the variety of wildlife in the area.
Everything from snails to deer could use the slough and the land close by, said Neil Shook, Chase Lake Refugee manager,
"If it's a wetland/grassland-type community, the species that are found anywhere in the state could be found there," Shook said.
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The spill happened shortly after 9 a.m. when a truck carrying chemicals owned by Farmers' Co-op Elevator out of Streeter, N.D., dropped about 15 gallons of Govern around mile marker 232 between Cleveland and Medina, said John Sova, a trooper with the North Dakota Highway Patrol, who was the first to respond.
Department of Transportation workers covered the spill with soil to adsorb the insecticide. The soil was then put in canisters and will be properly disposed of, Fewless said.
Sova said cars that drove through the spill need not worry if they came in contact with water since the spill.
Jeffery Williams, Streeter, N.D., was given a citation for driving a vehicle with a leaking or shifting load.
State officials said they were confident with the job done on the scene.
"I don't think we could have done any better than we did," Roberts said.
