Although the tractor-trailer had a 2,000-gallon water tank and a 200- gallon pesticide tank, the chemical tank was empty although pesticides were being transported in plastic gallon jugs stored inside a metal cage. When the truck overturned the cage broke off the truck, but none of the jugs holding pesticides were broken.Eastbound highway traffic backed up, with one motorist saying it took three hours to reach a Santa Paula job site after traffic ground to a halt just east of Kimball Road. At about 11:15 a.m., after the HazMat team determined that no pesticides had spilled, the effort began to right the truck and clear the roadway, but by 1:15 p.m. only one eastbound lane had been opened. Full traffic access was restored to the roadway about an hour later.
|
(Top photo) An over-turned pesticide truck is shown in the eastbound lanes of Highway 126 at Briggs Road about 9:15 a.m. Wednesday morning. The overturned truck spilled mostly water. (Bottom photo) Ventura County Fire Department Hazmat unit member Bob Welsbie and Desi Rodriguez inspect an over-turned truck carrying pesticides eastbound on Highway 126 Wednesday morning. The driver and passenger of the truck were transported to Ventura Çounty Medical Center with moderate injuries. Photos by Michael Chapman |
Accident closes eastbound Highway 126 for hours
June 22, 2007
Santa Paula News
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula TimesA tractor-trailer loaded with bottled pesticide overturned on eastbound Highway 126 Wednesday, shutting down both lanes of the freeway and bringing out a Hazardous Materials team, according to a California Highway Patrol spokesman. Two people - the driver of the trailer and a passenger - received moderate to minor injuries in the mishap that occurred at approximately 8:30 a.m. near the Briggs Road exit just east of the city.The highway remained closed for hours while the Ventura County Fire Department’s HazMat team worked to determine whether or not the liquid that spilled from the trailer was toxic. Witnesses told the CHP that the spill coming from the jackknifed truck did not smell like gasoline, although some fuel was spilled across both eastbound lanes according to CHP Officer Jim Ryland.The truck was carrying pesticide from Oxnard-based San Miguel Produce to a Santa Paula area farm when, for an unknown reason, the trailer began to swerve near Briggs Road. The driver tried corrective measures, but the swerving gained momentum until the vehicle jackknifed and overturned about one-quarter mile later.The tractor-trailer came to rest upside down, crushing the cab. The unidentified passenger was able get out of the wreck on his own, but the driver - whose name was also not available - was helped by passersby to exit the vehicle. The driver was transported to Ventura County Medical Center, where he was admitted with a fractured arm and leg injury.
