Plane crash cleanup incomplete

MONTEZUMA - Plane fuel and chemicals that spilled from a downed crop duster in May are contained in a tank, pile of dirt and absorption booms lying on county land and are expected to be removed within a month, a county official said.

"We have been continually working on this. We're hoping to have this concluded very soon," said Mike Robbins, director of the Mercer County Emergency Management Agency.

Mark J. Gaerte, 43, was piloting his crop duster when it crashed near Guadalupe and Cassella-Montezuma Roads south of Grand Lake just before 8 a.m. May 27. Jet fuel and the fungicide and insecticide being carried by the crop duster leaked into the creek, according to Robbins.

Robbins said the leaked fuel and chemicals were quickly contained and the materials collected soon afterward.

A resident recently notified the newspaper, stating clean-up related debris remained at the site. Robins confirmed a tank resembling a semi trailer holding contaminated water, a pile of fuel-saturated dirt and multiple booms that absorbed the leaked fuel remain on county land near Beaver Creek.

However, they do not present a threat to the environment, Robbins said. A company contracted to contain and collect the fuel and chemicals is expected to remove the tank in a month, he said.

The project was disrupted when the company apparently was bought out by another entity and some of its employees quit, Robbins said he was told.

"It's been cleaned up. It's just the tank that they sucked the water into and the pile of dirt they dug up, which is on a tarp and covered with a tarp, and the booms that had been in the creek are still there," he explained.

The owner of the crop duster is ultimately responsible for the cleanup, Robbins said.

Montezuma and Franklin Township fire departments who responded to the scene on May 27 reportedly had cut off a section of wetlands from Grand Lake near the crash site.

The plane wasn't carrying much fuel and its crop dust tank probably held up to a few hundred gallons of chemicals, he added. Absorption booms were placed in the creek and soaked up the fuel. Fuel-saturated dirt was dug up and crop dusting chemicals in the creek were vacuumed out, Robbins said.

"The cleanup contractor was there. It was still daylight when they were there," he said. "The fire department put in the booms right away and the county shut down the outlet to the wetlands so it couldn't go anywhere. It was contained very quickly."

According to information provided by the Ohio State Highway Patrol, Gaerte had left from Lakefield Airport near Montezuma in a Grumman G-164B bi wing aircraft. Shortly after takeoff, the plane failed to gain altitude and went down in a marsh southeast of the runway. The plane overturned and came to a rest upside down, partially in Beaver Creek.

Gaerte was taken from the scene by a Mercer County squad to Mercer County Community Hospital in Coldwater. He was later transported by Lutheran Care Flight to Miami Valley Hospital.

Lakefield Airport manager Steve Shinabery, who assisted at the scene, had said Gaerte managed to crawl out of the wreckage after the plane had landed on its top. Shinabery had said Gaerte suffered what appeared to be chemical and fuel burns.

Shinabery had indicated that representatives from the National Transportation Safety Board would be investigating the cause of the crash. The Federal Aviation Administration had also been notified, according to the OSHP.

Robbins also noted that pilot Gaerte had been discharged from the hospital. He is not sure of his overall condition at this time.