TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — People, pets and property near this week’s hazardous material spill should face no health effects. That’s the message from a briefing by agencies that came together to take care of the threat.
The stretch of I-10 between Kolb and Houghton was blocked from mid afternoon Tuesday to early evening Wednesday while 13 agencies dealt with the spill. DPS is still trying to determine exactly why the truck crashed but authorities say they contained the spill in a way that limited danger to the rest of us.
In Rita Ranch, Rachel Cropper says she heard the alerts and kept her family safely sealed up at home but it was extra hard when she saw it had snowed overnight
“So I walk outside and it smells like weed killer and I'm like, don't tell the kids that it's because they want to go outside so bad but it was not good.”
The wreck kept I-10 closed from Kolb to Houghton for just over a full day while 13 agencies worked to make the scene safe. DPS pulled together law enforcement, Tucson Fire Department hazardous materials specialists, environmental experts, and Poison Control to assess the danger to people.
Related hazmat spill stories:
- Nitric acid spill evacuation order rescinded, I-10 reopens
- Breaking down hazardous spill of nitric acid near Tucson
- Pima County: Health guidance for possible nitric acid exposure
DPS Incident Commander Captain Benjamin says investigators are still trying to determine what caused the accident.
“We have no reason to believe that high speed, that drugs or alcohol are involved in this case. There weren't any other vehicles that we're aware of that were involved in the collision itself. At this time, there's the possibility that we had a fatigued driver.”
Officials identified the driver as 54 year old Ricky Immel of Nevada.
Drivers have to keep track of the amount of hours they drive in one stretch.
Captain Buller says the driver seems to have complied with the rules on how much he had driven between rest periods.
DPS says with the need to decontaminate the truck and the damage it sustained in the accident, they are still trying to determine if some sort of mechanical trouble led to the wreck.
In a briefing, experts told us even people driving by the accident scene would not have had enough sustained exposure for serious health effects.
KGUN 9 Reporter Craig Smith asked Dr. Mazda Shirazi, director of the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center: “Would it be fair to say it's a limited hazard to people, properties, pets, or even wild animals?”
Dr. Shirazi said: “It would be a correct assumption to say yes that it would be a very limited hazard.”
DPS says about 40 thousand pounds of nitric acid was in about 13 thick plastic containers approved for that use. The plastic is surrounded by metal frames.
Deputy Chief James Kearney oversees Tucson Fire’s Hazmat response. He says as crews were on the way they were able to look up Nitric Acid and plan how to handle it.
“It's very different than when I first came on the job but now we have so much information on the phones that pertain specifically to hazmat that we can actually start pulling that stuff up. And doing research on the way there.”
And he says plenty of training with the many agencies that worked on the spill helped them work smoothly when a real emergency dropped into our lives.
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
