3,000 Gallons of Solvent Spilled as Tanker Truck Tips

A tanker truck tipped over at a freeway interchange in Riverside Friday, spilling 3,000 to 4,000 gallons of a mildly toxic industrial solvent and seriously injuring the driver, the California Highway Patrol reported.

Specially trained cleanup crews used sand and chemicals to contain and soak up the spill of Chlorothene-SM, a widely used Dow Chemical Co. solvent. A Dow spokesman said that the solvent can be considered hazardous only with prolonged exposure, and that apparently did not occur here.

He said it could be toxic to fish, but a spokesman for I T Corp. of Torrance, which did the cleanup, said virtually none of the chemical got into the storm drain and thus little if any of the substance could have reached any waterways. The CHP also said there seemed to be little danger from the chemical.