Spill response and remediation
Fuel, oil, grease, acids, milk, PFOS, old chemicals nobody wants to touch. We pick up at 3:45 in the morning and on holidays, show up with the right size crew, and walk you through the cleanup, the insurance and the state step by step, anywhere in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky or Michigan.
Case file: holiday truck fire
A truck fire dumped fuel and engine oil across a fast-food parking lot and into the storm drain. It was a holiday and 95 degrees out. Six contractors had already been called. Here is how the day went.
The company had been burned by an out-of-state spill contractor two years earlier, so this time they wanted someone they could trust. Alan promised to walk them through every step, and he did.
It was a simple job. Simple jobs still deserve a fast answer, a fair bill and a crew that actually shows up.
It's the notion that when they call, we will come, and not bring all the recovery fees and security fees and this fee and that fee. We will not bring 10 trucks to a 3-man spill. Alan Perry
What we clean up
Every one of these is a real job from the last two seasons. Where a material has a DOT hazard class, it's listed, because that decides how it's handled, shipped and disposed of.
| Material | Where it happened | DOT class | What we did |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diesel fuel and engine oilafter a truck fire | Restaurant parking lot and storm drain | UN1202 · Class 3 | Contained, absorbed and cleaned the lot and drain the same afternoon |
| Nitric acid, 65 to 70%350-gallon tote dropped from a forklift | Chemical plant, northern Indiana | UN2031 · Class 8 | Took over from the fire department's hazmat team and cleaned up the yard and impacted soil |
| PFOS-impacted watera “forever chemical” in the PFAS family | Creek | Not DOT regulated | Designed and installed a custom filter system, monitored by trail cameras since 2024 |
| Impacted ditch soil, 1,200 yd³ | Industrial site | Varies | Excavated around fixed steel and an unmapped 8-inch drain, 40+ dumpsters hauled |
| Fuel from a buried tankhit during a house demolition | Town demolition site | Class 3 | Dug out the leaking tank and contaminated soil after the town contained it |
| Greasehidden in a sublevel void | Downtown hospital | Not regulated | Vacuumed out through 300 ft of hose without disrupting patient care |
| Oily water | Warehouse sub-basement pit | Not regulated | Pumped out and cleaned the pit |
| Used automotive fluidsdumped illegally for months | Rental property, neighbor lot and storm drains | Varies | Assessment and remediation for the owner's attorney and the health department |
| Milk, 7,000 gallons | Tanker crash into a culvert and creek | Not regulated | Overnight containment in the creek bed with the local fire department |
| Contaminated waterin an elevator pit | Hospital | Not regulated | Cleaned the pit and pulled the sump pump for replacement |
| Legacy chemical device | Antique safe | Varies | Removed the anti-tamper device and sent it for proper disposal |
Case file: chemical plant, fall 2025
A stainless steel tote of 65 to 70% nitric acid fell off a forklift at a chemical plant up north. The local fire department's hazmat team did a great job containing it until we got there. Jeremy Heath of Willow Creek Environmental jumped in to help with the cleanup.
Alan spent hours on scene with the fire chief, the county emergency management agency, city services and the water department. 1 Pro has been on that county's emergency response list for years.
Case file: PFOS in a creek
PFOS is one of the PFAS "forever chemicals," and there's no off-the-shelf fix for getting it out of moving water. In summer 2024 Alan built a new style of filter system to strip PFOS out of a creek.
Because the design was new, he wanted real-time data on how it performed. Instead of an expensive monitoring setup, he installed trail cameras. They send alerts when it rains, so he can watch the flows change. Months of that data taught us a lot about fighting PFOS.
Case file: downtown hospital
Staff at one of the largest hospitals downtown had been complaining about a terrible smell for weeks. Maintenance couldn't find it. A facility coordinator finally had the sublevel checked and found a large grease spill in a remote void deep under the building.
The grease was easy. Reaching it wasn't. The closest a vac truck could park was a parking garage about 300 feet away, so the hose had to run through the main atrium. Alan worked out a plan with the project manager that got the job done without getting in the way of patients or doctors.
How we work
No fleet of trucks for a small spill. The crew and equipment match what's on the ground, so the bill does too.
We will not bring 10 trucks to a 3-man spill.
3:45 in the morning, a holiday, 95 degrees. Big responders can take hours to staff a small job. We pick up and come.
When they call, we will come.
Insurance, brokers, the state, the health department. We explain each step and handle the paperwork with you, so a bad day doesn't get worse.
The guy to call when you don't know who to call.
Case file: the antique safe
An old safe was taped shut with a note: do not disturb. Inside was a chemical anti-tamper device, a booby trap that safe makers once used to stop safe crackers. We removed it and sent it for proper disposal. Afterward the caretaker showed us an old newspaper article explaining how these devices worked.
Unusual hazards are part of the job. If you've found something and aren't sure what it is, don't open it. Call us.
Have a spill right now?
What to do before we get there.
Who calls us
You don't need a national account to get a fast response. These are the people we help most.
Need socks, pillows or drum pads for your own spill kit? Visit Indiana Absorbents.
Planning a project instead? Send a request on the main page.
