Hundreds of used hypodermic needles prompt closing of Bay Area road

Authorities are investigating how about 2,000 used hypodermic needles were scattered on a Bay Area roadway, prompting a hazardous-material team to respond.

The needles were discovered early Tuesday morning on Santa Rita Road near Appian Way in the community of El Sobrante north of Richmond.

Contra Costa County fire crews used brooms and shovels to pick up the needles and put them back in the container they appeared to have come out of, Fire Marshal Lewis Broschard told CBS SF Bay Area.

The haz-mat team was brought in to address “any liquid that might have been on the road as a precaution,” said Devra Lewis, a hazardous-material specialist with Contra Costa Health Services.

It remained unclear how the needles got onto the roadway or what they had been used for, according to the California Highway Patrol.

“I’m just concerned about people coming down with their animals, and the children are going to school this time in the morning,” a local resident told KTVU-TV in Oakland. “I’m just glad they’re all out here getting it all cleaned up.”

The roadway was reopened a few hours later.

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jason.wells@latimes.com

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