LOCAL : Spilled Sewage on Freeway Starts Chain-Reaction Pileup

Treated sewage spilling out the back of a tractor-trailer rig for two miles on the Costa Mesa Freeway triggered a mass pileup of cars as they slid to and fro on the slick roadway.

No injuries were reported although 10 vehicles crashed while sliding in the goo. California Highway Patrol Officer Angel Johnson said authorities had to close two northbound lanes of the freeway north of Katella Avenue from about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday until 4:30 this morning.

Truck driver Mark Caputo, 32, of Riverside was heading to Corona from a Huntington Beach treatment plant and apparently did not know his load was spilling until he was about to enter the Riverside Freeway heading east, Johnson said.

Six cars spun out of control first when they hit the sewage-covered freeway north of Katella Avenue, Johnson said. Four more followed shortly afterward.

“It was pretty wild out there,” she said. “One car slid off the freeway and ran into a tree. Another slid into the center divider and the others just spun and collided with each other. . . . It was a chain reaction.”

“It was like hitting oil,” said Robert Kerr of Tustin, who was traveling to Riverside with his wife and 2-month-old daughter. “A lady behind (us) got rear-ended, and she thrust into us. It was a lot of shaky nerves out there.”

CHP officers closed two northbound lanes between Katella and Lincoln avenues while Department of Transportation workers cleaned up the spill. They were reopened at 4:30 a.m. today.

Johnson said officers are investigating the accidents, but it appears Caputo’s truck may have been overloaded. She said officers also believe a rear gate of the truck was left unlatched.