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Crews contain tar spill
Sticky substance kept out of neighborhood pond
Tar Road 3 es
Responding to a tar spill Friday, Forsyth County Fire Capt. Jason Shivers explains how Hazmat equipment works to block tar from leaking into a retention pond in Champion Run subdivision. - photo by Emily Saunders
A Forsyth County Fire Department Hazardous Materials Team was called out Friday afternoon after a resident reported a tar spill in a southern Forsyth County neighborhood.

Fire Capt. Jason Shivers said the source of the tar is unclear and did not know whether the spill was accidental or intentional.

The sticky, black substance ran southwest along the curb from James Burgess Road into the Champions Run subdivision, where it traveled about a block down Winning Colors Court into a storm sewer.

No roads were closed while officials worked to contain the spill.

Hazmat Technician Bob Kaley explained that the tar is the kind used to bind asphalt to roads.

Shivers said that the tar likely would not make it to the subdivision’s retention pond. However precautions were taken, Shivers said.

“The spill poses no immediate threat to the watershed,” he said.

Hazmat booms made of materials used for absorbing carbon-based substances were placed along the tar’s prospective route to catch it and separate it from water from the sewer on its way to the pond.

“We don’t anticipate that any of that existing tar will make it through, even in a rainstorm,” Shivers said.

He said it would take a few days for the tar to dry and harden.