Truck Hits Tank, Spilling Toxic Chemical
About 3,000 gallons of highly toxic soil fumigant spilled Tuesday when an employee crashed a pickup into a tank containing the chemical, said Fresno County sheriff’s deputies.
The chemical tank broke when the pickup ran into it. Police said the employee, Alberto Ruiz, may have veered off the dirt road he was traveling on when a car in front of him raised a blinding cloud of dust.
The substance, known as Vapam, was spilled on the ground at Harris Farms, and Ruiz, of San Joaquin, was exposed to it. Ruiz was washed down and taken to University Medical Center by Fresno County Fire Department personnel, Lt. Joe Blohm said.
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