Truck Drops 9 Drums of Waste, Tying Up Interstate 5 for Hours

A truck dropped nine drums of hazardous wastes--including acids--on the Santa Ana Freeway Friday afternoon, closing the southbound lanes for several hours, the northbound side until 9 p.m. and backing up traffic for miles in Orange and Los Angeles counties.

California Highway Patrol spokesman Tom Coleman said the drums fell from the truck between Rosecrans Avenue and Carmenita Road on Interstate 5.

No motorists were injured, Coleman said. Fire officials said a firefighter involved in the cleanup was treated and released at a local hospital after complaining of tightness and burning in his chest, apparently from fumes.

Traffic was directed to the San Gabriel River Freeway, the Riverside Freeway and surface streets, while about a dozen workers cleared the spill, fire and CHP officials said.

Santa Fe Springs Fire Department Capt. Robert Fisher said a cleanup of this type was a “very complicated and long and drawn-out process of logistics.” For one thing, all the vehicles trapped between the spill and the last exit passed had to be turned around and escorted off the freeway.

Fisher said the chemicals were sprinkled with soda ash, which then was vacuumed. Another 30-40 firefighters were on hand to help in the cleanup, he said.

Fisher said the 55-gallon drums crashed through the sides of the truck when the driver was forced to slam on his brakes to avoid a collision with vehicles ahead. The driver had just picked up the load of hazardous materials, which included nitric and other acids and heavy metals, such as lead and mercury, from Hughes Aircraft in Fullerton.

The driver, who works for Chemical Management, was not cited. Officials did not immediately know where the company was based.

Fisher said the hazardous materials could have damaged the finish of vehicles passing by.

The spill occurred about 12:15 p.m. The southbound lanes were reopened to traffic at about 4:35 p.m. One lane of the northbound freeway was reopened at 9 p.m., a CHP spokesman said.