Saturday, November 23, 2002
Police said a tire blowout caused a truck carrying a tank of acid to overturn.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
WEST MIDDLESEX, Pa. -- A Shenango Township police officer remained hospitalized after inhaling vapor from a hydrochloric acid spill on Interstate 80.
Patrolman Bob David was listed in satisfactory condition Friday night, and Police Chief Ronald Preston said he was told David would be kept at UPMC Horizon in Farrell for up to 72 hours to make sure the vapor didn't cause serious respiratory problems.
David was the first officer to reach the scene of the accident on Interstate 80 a half-mile east of the Ohio line.
A flatbed truck with a tank of hydrochloric acid had rolled over in the grassy median and the valve on the tank broke, allowing 250 gallons of acid to leak out, Preston said.
David got the truck driver, John M. Barnett, 30, of Conneaut Lake, and a second, unidentified, tractor-trailer driver who had stopped to render aid out of the area, but all three men inhaled some of the vapor.
Police said all were taken to UPMC Horizon, but a hospital supervisor said Barnett wasn't treated at its facility. Police said the other driver was treated and released.
Highway reopened
The truck with the leaking tank, which had crashed at about 6:40 a.m., was removed in midafternoon, and all lanes of I-80 in both directions were reopened about 5 p.m., said Jim Thompson, Mercer County Emergency Management Agency director. The soil was treated with a soda ash and lime mix to neutralize its acidity, and a dam was placed in a ditch to allow water to pool to neutralize its acidity, he added.
Two to three truckloads of contaminated soil still must be removed by Weavertown Environmental of Canonsburg, Pa., a licensed cleanup contractor, on a schedule to be coordinated with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, and the work must be done to the satisfaction of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Thompson said.
Pennsylvania State Police said Barnett was westbound on I-80 when the left front tire of his truck blew out, causing him to lose control and run into the grassy median.
The truck belongs to Superior Well Services of Fredonia in Mercer County. The company refused to comment on the matter.
Preston, the second officer on scene, said the vapor formed a huge white cloud that covered both sides of the interstate, prompting authorities to shut down the roadway from Hubbard to Hermitage.
It was opened to one-lane traffic in each direction around noon.
Houses evacuated
Authorities evacuated between 20 and 30 houses on Wansack, Habarka and Hnida roads near the crash scene. People were allowed to return to their homes around 11 a.m.
Shutting down I-80 caused traffic jams in neighboring towns, including Farrell, West Middlesex and Sharon, as motorists were directed to alternate east-west routes.
The spill even affected flights at Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport, which redirected some morning flights because of the vapor cloud.
Hazardous material cleanup crews used absorbent lime to neutralize the acid that ran into a ditch but wasn't expected to pose any threat to the nearby Shenango River.
Cleanup crews and representatives of the Mercer County Emergency Management Agency, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and Pennsylvania Fish Commission were still on the scene late Friday afternoon as the cleanup continued.