Truck Driver Arrested After Load of Acid Nearly Spills

The driver of a tanker loaded with hydrochloric acid that slipped off a Corona del Mar Freeway on-ramp and nearly spilled its load Friday was jailed on suspicion of drunk driving after tests found he had a blood-alcohol level more than three times the legal limit, authorities said.

California Highway Patrol officials said David Lee MacMillan, 25, of Fullerton, an employee of So Cal Transport in Wilmington, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.34. The legal limit is 0.10.

In the past three years, MacMillan has been cited five times for speeding. And in 1985, he was convicted of driving with an open container of alcohol in his car, Department of Motor Vehicles records show.

No Leaks

Although authorities prepared to evacuate the area surrounding the accident--which happened about 8:30 a.m. at the Bear Street on-ramp to the southbound Corona Del Mar Freeway in Costa Mesa--the 2,500 gallons of acid never leaked, and the tanker was safely towed away just after 1 p.m.

“It was a miracle that (the tanker) didn’t tip over,” said Lila Zimmerman, one of four Red Cross employees called to the accident scene, as she watched the truck being pulled upright.

Zimmerman and the other Red Cross employees stood by in case an evacuation of the mostly residential neighborhood nearby was ordered.

MacMillan’s driving record also includes an unsafe-passing violation in June, 1986. In 1985, he was involved in a two-car accident in Santa Ana, according to DMV records. However, the other driver was later found to have been at fault, a Santa Ana police spokesman said.

When asked about MacMillan’s driving history, Dale Martin, owner of So Cal Transport, which employs about 30 drivers, said: “We have checked it. He has a pretty good record.”

But when asked about the specifics of MacMillan’s record, Martin said his firm had never checked out McMillan, who he said had worked “on and off” for So Cal for about a year. Had he known of the violations, Martin said, MacMillan would not have been hired.

“We’re just starting the process over

again, checking our employees’ driving records and making them take drug tests,” Martin said. “We hadn’t gotten to (MacMillan) yet.”

Bill Macias, a spokesman for the California Trucking Assn., said trucking firms are encouraged to investigate their drivers’ DMV records annually.

“He certainly should be aware of his drivers’ records,” Macias said of Martin, “because of the potential for his drivers to cause a great problem for other drivers on the road.”

CHP Officer Keith Thornhill said MacMillan was driving the tanker down the Bear Street off-ramp of the Corona Del Mar Freeway. Without stopping, Thornhill said, he drove through the intersection at about 20 m.p.h. and knocked down a sign at the entrance to the freeway on-ramp. The tanker then veered sharply to the right and continued up the ramp, coming to rest just over the side near the top.

No other vehicles were involved in the accident.

The freeway on-ramp and a northbound lane of Bear Street were closed for more than five hours, but the accident did little to disrupt freeway traffic other than to cause a “gawkers’ block” in the freeway’s southbound lanes.

MacMillan was taken to Orange County Jail, where he was booked about 10:30 a.m. Bail was set at $1,500, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman said. MacMillan was still in jail early Friday evening, the spokesman said.

Asked whether MacMillan would be returning to work soon, Martin said: “Hell no! He’s finished.”