Truck’s Toxic Acid Spill Causes Traffic Jams
A toxic acid spill Friday forced authorities to close Interstate 10, causing a daylong backup on freeways and surface streets over a 20-mile stretch from Ontario to San Bernardino.
While hazardous substance crews cleaned up the spill at the Union Pacific railroad yard just south of I-10, traffic clogged from morning until late afternoon on alternate routes on the 60 Freeway, Interstate 15 and streets in Ontario and Rialto.
A 30,000-gallon tanker truck containing hydrochloric acid began spilling its load at about 2 a.m. for unknown reasons. A chemical plume formed above the spill and began moving toward I-10, said California Highway Patrol Officer Kevin Haney.
It’s not known how much of the chemical spilled before it was discovered.
Rialto police evacuated about 100 people from 25 industrial businesses near the leak.
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