Toxic Spill Closes Streets; No One Injured

A truck carrying a load of hazardous waste from a La Mesa gas plant that shut down in December overturned, spilling its load and closing down the Spring Street ramps of California 94 most of Monday.

No injuries were reported in the one-vehicle accident, which occurred at 10:15 a.m. at the Spring Street and Broadway intersection on the border of La Mesa and Spring Valley, San Miguel Fire Department spokesman Larry Kinard said.

The spilled load of empty barrels, which had at one time contained heavy metals such as mercury, lead and arsenic, posed what Kinard called a “low-grade” hazard. The 55-gallon plastic drums had been cut into pieces and placed in the truck’s industrial-size trash bin and covered with dirt, Kinard said.

“What made it hazardous was that the lining had residue of the hazardous material. The dust particles could have become airborne and become a lung irritant,” Kinard said.

Authorities covered the material with plastic tarps as a precaution, Kinard said, until Appropriate Technologies, a cleanup firm based in Chula Vista, could transfer the material to another truck for transport to a dump site in Los Angeles.

The hazardous material was being transported from Phoenix Research Corp., which had closed its Alvarado Road plant last December after a four-year fight with the city of La Mesa and the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District. Groups working to oust the manufacturer of hazardous chemicals from the city feared accidental releases of toxic gases used in the electronics and semiconductor industries.

About half a dozen public agencies responded to the accident, and more than 30 officials were on the scene, Kinard said.

Cleanup lasted until about 7 p.m., at which time roads were reopened, Kinard said.

The driver of the truck, Koen Sacks, was hauling the load for Chemical Waste Management. Kinard said the driver was turning from westbound Broadway to northbound Spring Street at an apparently high speed, when the load shifted and spilled into the intersection.

The east and west ramps from California 94 to Spring Street were closed from about 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., Kinard said. Spring Street from Interstate 125 to Broadway was closed, as was Broadway from the Spring Street off-ramp to Fairway Drive.

Kinard said that, if the hazardous material were to be inhaled in sufficient quantities, it could cause dizziness and lung irritation. Prolonged exposure could lead to serious health problems because the materials remain in the body for long periods before being excreted, he said.

Phoenix Research Corp. has been vacating the area since it relocated to a plant about 10 miles outside Kingman, Ariz.