Hazardous-materials crews averted a potential disaster yesterday morning when they quickly contained a chemical spill from a tanker that overturned on N.C. 150, authorities said.
The wreck occurred near the banks of Reedy Creek. The ground near the creek soaked up some of the 8,000 gallons of hazardous chemicals that spilled from the tanker, which was making a delivery to a business along the highway, said Doug Lowe, Davidson County's emergency-services director.
The Arcadia Fire Department quickly used a long pipe with a fiber net that absorbed much of the remaining chemicals, Lowe said. That device also acted like a dam to prevent the chemicals from reaching the creek.
"It could have been a really nasty scenario than it was," Lowe said.
No one was hurt.
The wreck caused authorities to evacuate 12 houses and six businesses near the creek, and N.C. 150 was closed between Friendship Church and Hampton roads. Authorities expected to have the highway reopened by midnight yesterday.
The truck was hauling ethanol ethyl acetate, toluene and methyl ethyl ketone -- all flammable solvents, Lowe said. Hazardous-materials crews were especially worried about the 1,500 gallons of spilled toluene because it is the most unstable.
Chemicals still leaked from the truck about four hours later, and crews used foam to neutralize them, reducing the risk of an explosion.
After the spill was contained, the crews drilled holes in the tanker to remove the remaining chemicals.
Hazardous-materials crews from as far away as Greensboro helped contain the spill.
The truck's driver was making a delivery to Kurz Transfer Products, a company that makes metallic foils.
The accident occurred when the driver tried to make a right turn into the business, and two axles went into a ditch, causing the truck to overturn, said Trooper Kelly Britt of N.C. Highway Patrol.
Quality Carriers Inc. of Tampa, Fla., which owns the truck, has a satisfactory safety rating with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
A spokesman for Quality Carriers, Dennis Copeland, declined to identify the driver.
The people who were evacuated from their homes stayed with family members, Lowe said.
Authorities set up a command post in the parking lot of Cap'n Steven's Seafood Restaurant, one of the evacuated businesses.
Brooks Estep lives behind the restaurant. He said he heard sirens in the morning but ignored them and went back to sleep. A few hours later, the restaurant's parking lot was filled with emergency vehicles.
Estep said he was glad he was not forced to leave his home.
"I don't have anywhere else to go," he said.
pgarber@wsjournal.com
727-7327
Journal reporter John Hinton contributed to this report.
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