Lake-Cook Road closed after drum, liquid found

When Wheeling officials arrived at Lake-Cook Road on Thursday, they found an empty drum surrounded by 55 gallons of liquid sitting in the busy road's median.

"We didn't know what it was, but it was smack in the middle of the road," said Wheeling Fire Chief Keith MacIsaac. "There wasn't a truck or anyone around to tell us what that liquid was."

So Wheeling officials shut down a portion of Lake-Cook Road at Weiland Road for more than three hours and figured it out.

According to MacIsaac, after a closer look at the drum, firefighters saw a label that said "Tamol," which is an additive used by painters.

Firefighters contacted the company's national headquarters, who told MacIsaac there was a Wheeling company that used Tamol. The company's headquarters also told MacIsaac that they were expecting a drum of Tamol to be returned via truck this week.

"Once we knew what it was and that it wasn't hazardous to humans, we cleaned it up using about 300 pounds of clay," he said. "We had to make sure it wasn't a serious spill first."

The spill occurred at about 12:15 p.m. Two lanes of Lake-Cook Road were reopened around 2 p.m. and all four lanes were reopened around 3:30 p.m.