Chemical Spills Snarl Traffic in County

Chemical spills snarled traffic in Costa Mesa and Laguna Niguel Friday, but by day’s end, the two accidents were cleaned up and motorists were able to resume normal commuting.

Traffic moved at a crawl on the southbound San Diego Freeway in Costa Mesa following a midmorning spill near the Corona del Mar Freeway interchange in which a 100-pound sack containing what a California Highway Patrol officer described as a carcinogenic chemical powder fell from a vehicle, leaving a lime-green streak on the roadway.

The bag contained strontium chromate, a known carcinogen in animals, Officer Bill Elliott said.

He said The bright green powder--described as “highly irritating” and dangerous if touched or inhaled--was “flying around” on the far-right lane at about 10 a.m. Elliott said authorities did not locate the vehicle involved in the spill.

Closed Southbound Lanes

The CHP closed the highway’s southbound lanes for about 20 minutes between Fairview Road and Bristol Street in Costa Mesa, and two lanes remained closed throughout the day, causing southbound traffic to snarl.

Members of the county’s Hazardous Materials Team and a private cleanup firm had mopped up most of the 250-yard spill by 5 p.m., the CHP spokesman said.

The CHP officer first on the scene was treated at a nearby hospital for eye irritation and released, the spokesman said. No other injuries were reported.

A second spill occurred about 4:15 p.m. when a pest control truck rolled over at the intersection of Alicia Parkway and Aliso Creek Road in Laguna Niguel, dumping about two gallons of what was described as highly diluted pesticide in the roadway.

CHP officers blocked off portions of both Alicia Parkway and Aliso Creek Road for about two hours, while employees of Long Beach-based Barden’s Pest Control cleaned up the spill.

Tom Rossmiller of the Orange County Environmental Management Agency said the pesticide involved, diazinon, is used to kill fleas and ants and is not dangerous to humans in the concentrations that spilled. Don Thomas, branch supervisor for Barden’s Pest Control, said the spilled liquid contained about 2% pesticide.