Lance Martin/Herald Senior Staff Writer

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One of the concerns in the spill of a laminating resin along U.S. Highway 158 was the flash point of the substance, area emergency management coordinators said.

They were also concerned a storm might carry the substance, used to make wood harder, into drainage systems, explained Halifax County Emergency Management Director Tina Hinton.

The storm never arrived, and an environmental clean-up crew from Rocky Mount was able to neutralize the spill.

Northampton County Emergency Management Coordinator Tim Byers said officials were also concerned the substance may have a low flash point, meaning it could ignite easily. “The initial information we had was it had a low flash point,” he said Wednesday. “It had a high flash point of 162 to 170 (degrees).”

Hinton said that was a concern because the temperature on the asphalt was 135 degrees.

“It wasn't as flammable as we thought,” Byers said.

The resin is made at the Georgia-Pacific plant in Conway, Byers said. “Georgia-Pacific was quick to respond to get clean-up crews out.”

Byers said he was pleased with response of the many agencies involved, which closed portions of U.S. Highway 158 in both counties. “Our main goal was to try to come to a safe conclusion. I think we work great together,” he said of Halifax, “We have the same goals.”

Halifax got the worst of the spill because the truck, carrying the resin without the top secured properly, made more stops there, causing the liquid to spill.

“You couldn't ask for better cooperation,” Hinton said. “We couldn't have done it without the help of everyone.”

Hinton said since the incident, she has received a couple of phone calls from people who got the substance on their vehicles. Taking the vehicle through a car wash should get it off.

The driver of the truck, Kevin Dedman, 44, of Horseshoe, was cited for failure to properly secure a load.