A Tennessee-based company has just two months to finish its cleanup of a fatal chemical spill on Bringle Ferry Road, according to the Department of Environmental Quality.

In April 2015, a truck carrying thousands of gallons of ethanol crashed on the 11500 block of Bringle Ferry Road, killing its driver and spilling its contents onto the road and surrounding land. Months later, nearby residents are still dealing with the cleanup, which hasn’t progressed since June 2015.

State environmental officials have given Tennessee-based Eco-Energy Transportation additional time to finish its cleanup. The latest and final deadline is March 2016. By that time, Eco-Energy Transportation must produce an assessment report listing all steps the company has taken to clean up the spill, according to DEQ spokesman Jamie Kritzer.

Currently, the site of the spill is largely abandoned. Bringle Ferry Road resident Sheila Shepherd and former renters on her property no longer live there. Since June, Shepherd’s property has been split by a ravine that spans the entire length of her property and forms a pond where a wooded area once sat. The smell of ethanol is also apparent when it rains, Shepherd said.

The lengthy time period it’s taken for Eco-Energy to completely clean the spill may not completely be its own fault. Kritzer said the company hasn’t been allowed to access the site since “some point in June.”

Shepherd retained attorneys from Salisbury-based law firm Wallace and Graham, who filed a lawsuit on her behalf last week. The firm has requested a jury trial, thousands be paid in damages and a permanent injunction on Eco-Energy.

State environmental officials are aware that Shepherd retained an attorney, according to Kritzer and state documents. Kritzer said the cleanup extensions have occurred because Eco-Energy has been unable to access the Bringle Ferry Road site.

State documents also show Eco-Energy has agreed to provide bottled water to houses on Bringle Ferry Road. The company, however, didn’t start providing potable water until late last year, months after the spill. State officials declared the well on Shepherd’s property unsafe to drink.

Among other things, Wallace and Graham in its lawsuit alleges Eco-Energy drove an overweight truck over a Yadkin River bridge. The lawsuit also lists Albemarle-based J.T. Russell and Sons and Charlotte-based Hepaco LLC as defendants in the lawsuit.

J.T. Russell is accused of not properly painting road markings or erecting construction signs. Hepaco is charged with not properly cleaning up chemicals from the ethanol spill.

Contact reporter Josh Bergeron at 704-797-4246.