1.5 Gallons on the Driveway with a Ditch 60 Feet Away

Order of priorities: people, then water, then product.

1. Stop the helpers. Wave them back and keep them upwind and out of the drainage path. Bystanders without PPE are the fastest way to turn a spill into an injury.
2. Protect yourself before touching anything. The leather gloves are useless - they absorb and hold concentrate against the skin. Get the chemical-resistant gloves, goggles or face shield, chemical-resistant apron, and rubber boots from the cab and put them on. The label warns of irreversible eye damage; eye protection goes on first.
3. Stop the source. Right the case, stand the cracked jug upright, and place it inside a larger container or overpack so nothing more drains out. Cap or plug the crack if possible.
4. Protect the ditch. Do not hose anything. Build a dike of soil, sand, or absorbent across the drainage path between the spill and the ditch, and cover or berm the ditch entry if you can reach it safely. Every minute of delay lets more product travel downhill.
5. Call for help/advice from a safe spot - the product label's emergency phone number and the SDS Section 6 (accidental release measures) tell you what the manufacturer intends for this product. Call the state spill line or 911 if the product reaches or threatens the creek.

Containment and cleanup:

• Work from the outside of the spill inward so you do not spread it. Apply absorbent (clay, kitty litter, commercial spill socks) to the liquid, then pick up the saturated material with a shovel into a drum.
• For the soaked gravel, scrape up the contaminated gravel itself into the drum - the product is in the pores, not just on the surface. Do not wash the area with water; that creates a much larger volume of contaminated runoff heading for the creek.
• Sweep and re-check. If a residue remains, the label and SDS will indicate whether a specific decontamination method is permitted.

Waste and containers:

• The drum is a hazardous waste until characterized otherwise. Label it with the product name, EPA registration number, date, and quantity, close it, and store it under cover pending disposal through a permitted route. Never pour rinsate on the ground, into the ditch, or down a drain.
• The cracked jug: if it can be triple-rinsed or pressure-rinsed, do so over the spray tank or a containment basin, add rinsate to a compatible load, then puncture and dispose per the label's container-disposal instructions. If it cannot be rinsed, it goes into the drum with the cleanup debris.

Reporting: check the label for a reportable quantity (RQ) and the SDS Section 15 for regulatory information; notify the state agency and the downstream landowner if the creek was contacted or threatened. Document everything in writing the same day.

Prevention failures, in order of importance:

• No secondary containment in the truck bed. Liquid concentrates travel in a lined, bermed tote or a spill kit-equipped containment tray, strapped down - never loose in a case on an open tailgate.
• No spill kit on the vehicle. A spill kit with absorbent, a drum, overpack bags, and PPE belongs on every vehicle that carries concentrate.
• Wrong gloves on hand. Leather gloves are for barbed wire, not pesticides; nitrile or butyl chemical-resistant gloves rated for the product should be in the cab.
• PPE staged in the cab rather than on your body during loading - loading is a handling task, not a driving task.

Changes before the next trip: contain and strap loads; keep a stocked spill kit and a change of PPE in the truck; load in a location with no drain path (concrete pad, or away from the ditch) rather than the sloped gravel; keep the phone on your person during loading; and pre-program the emergency numbers from the label into your phone before you need them.