A truck loaded with sulfonic acid – a chemical used in the manufacture of detergents and degreasers to obtain foam – overturned this Monday morning (29) on the state road SC-301, which gives access to Serra Dona Francisca, in the municipality of Joinville , in Santa Catarina.
The accident occurred around 7 am, after the driver lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a bank. The first response was carried out by the Military Highway Police, who closed the road.
Still in the morning, Joinville city hall declared an emergency situation and interrupted water intake from the Cubatão Treatment Station, to avoid receiving the product and contaminating the system. The measure was preventive, as the substance was dumped into the Rio Seco, which is a tributary of the Cubatão River.
Spill
A crisis office was created to prevent product spills from causing greater damage to the environment and harming the population. According to Major Ruy Florêncio Teixeira Júnior, from the Santa Catarina Military Environmental Police, the product has low toxicity and the situation is already being controlled, through an outsourced company hired to clean the site.
“Like any chemical product, it has some degree of toxicity, but the Environmental Military Police have not yet identified any deaths of fish or animals related to the spill”, he explains.
According to the military officer, samples of the material were collected for criminal and administrative investigation regarding the environmental infraction.
According to a statement from Joinville City Hall, the truck driver, a 59-year-old man who was not identified, was rescued at the scene of the accident with injuries to his body, but conscious. He was taken to São José Municipal Hospital and is in stable health, but remains under observation.
