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Local News in Brief : Oil Spill Halts Freeway Traffic After Tanker Truck Overturns

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An overturned tanker truck spilled 3,800 gallons of crude oil on the Golden State Freeway Sunday, choking off southbound traffic for nearly three hours.

The driver of the truck, who was not immediately identified, was admitted to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valencia for treatment of unspecified injuries, said Los Angeles County Fire Department Capt. Perry Keenan.

The 5:30 p.m. accident was about a half-mile north of Lake Hughes Road, north of Castaic. Some of the oil soaked into the ground and drained into the Palomas Wash, Keenan said.

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Traffic was diverted to the Old Road until about 8:10 p.m., California Highway Patrol officials said.

Firefighters extinguished a small blaze in the truck’s engine, but the main supply of oil never caught fire and state Department of Transportation workers cleaned up the oil on the freeway, officials said.

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