Truck Crash Spills Fuel Into Ocean, Tide Pools

A tanker truck laden with gasoline overturned on U.S. 101 early Sunday, spilling nearly 5,000 gallons of fuel across traffic lanes and down a culvert that drains into the ocean, killing crabs, fish and seabirds as high tide was receding.

The 3:45 a.m. crash shut down a 10-mile stretch of the heavily traveled freeway between Carpinteria and Ventura, creating delays as long as three hours for Sunday travelers.

Traffic in both directions was routed through the Ojai Valley on the small winding lanes of California 150 and California 33. All lanes were reopened in the late afternoon after cleanup crews spent hours spreading foam and sand across the highway to sop up fuel. But officials were unsure when the northbound lanes would reopen.

The truck driver, Mark Hurtado, 43, of Bakersfield, suffered minor injuries and refused medical treatment, officials said. He was hauling about 8,500 gallons of gasoline from Los Angeles to San Luis Obispo, and apparently fell asleep at the wheel momentarily, a California Highway Patrol spokesman said.

“The road is pretty straight right there, so I don’t think this was a failure to negotiate [a turn],” said CHP Sgt. Bruce Clark.

Fearing an explosion, officials evacuated the nearby Cliff House Hotel and a residence on Old Rincon Highway. All 24 rooms in the hotel were occupied, and guests were roused from their sleep around 5 a.m., said desk clerk Mike Woolfolk.

The accident also delayed train travel on the line that runs next to the highway because officials feared that sparks from passing trains could ignite gas vapors, an Amtrak spokesman said.

Clark said the accident began when the truck swerved off to the right shoulder and struck a cement barrier. The truck then sideswiped a telephone pole, ran over a highway call box and flipped over, landing upside down in the freeway median.

Hurtado, trapped inside the cab of his truck and fearing that it might explode, was freed by an unknown motorist who broke the cab’s windshield and helped Hurtado escape, officials said. The motorist left the scene shortly thereafter.

“This passerby was a guardian angel,” said Joe Luna, a spokesman for the Ventura County Fire Department. “Most people today don’t even want to stop.”

Hurtado, who works for Bakersfield-based Cox Petroleum Transportation, was drenched with fuel. He showered at a nearby fire station but refused any medical treatment.

Jim Bolla, Cox Petroleum’s operations manager, said Hurtado has worked for the company for three years and regularly drives during the early morning. He said company representatives administered a drug test shortly after the accident but did not yet have the results.

Based on the driver’s past good performance, Bolla said, the company did not expect to detect any drug use.

About 4,700 gallons of fuel spilled down a storm drain and directly into tide pools brimming with crabs, shrimp and small fish.

Ken Wilson, an environmental specialist with the state Department of Fish and Game, estimated that thousands of crabs were killed. He said that he also saw dozens of dead shrimp as well as surf perch and sculpin, small fish that inhabit tide pools.

Two dead shorebirds were also recovered, he said.

“There could have been other birds that were doused and then flew away and died,” Wilson said.

As sea gulls poked among the dead crabs and shrimp, Wilson said a number would probably get sick from eating the animals.

“It is just one of the unfortunate events . . . that has effects on the food chain, he said.”

Crews worked late into the day, building berms to contain the fuel and mopping up the spill. After the truck was towed away from the median, crews studied the extent of soil contamination.

The stench of gasoline was overwhelming as the masked workers pushed brooms and built berms.

The crash caused traffic headaches for motorists trying to travel on U.S. 101, a major north-south artery. What was normally a 20-minute trip took weary motorists hours as they looped around a 35-mile long detour.

Adding to the misery was a number of minor accidents along the detour route, the CHP said.

Hundreds of drivers exited the freeway at Carpinteria Avenue, north of the detour, to seek gas, food and directions for a quicker way home. The backup stretched more than 15 miles into Santa Barbara.

“I’m 45 minutes from home and it’s going to take me five or six hours to get there,” said Oxnard resident Alfred Ayala, who had been vacationing in Buellton with his wife and their four children.

Standing outside a gas station that had lines of more than 20 people waiting to use the restrooms, Ayala, 26, said he would take the huge delay in stride.

“We’ll just wait it out. Get something to eat and maybe go find a park,” he said.

Times Community News reporter Holly J. Wolcott contributed to this story.