I-84 Reopens, 14 Hours After Truck Crash, Hydrogen Leak

MIDDLEBURY (AP) — Interstate 84 reopened Tuesday night, state police said, ending a 14-hour shutdown that began when a truck carrying 25,000 pounds of compressed hydrogen gas toppled onto the median.

The early-morning accident prompted an evacuation of scores of residents and forced detours that dumped traffic onto area roads.

The loss of gas was no more than a “pinhole leak” on one cylinder and posed no threat, Middlebury Police Chief Rich Guisti said.

Police are investigating the cause of the accident, which snarled the morning commute and left the highway empty during the evening commute. Details were not available about the owner of the truck, its origin, or where it was headed.

The truck, which carried 50 canisters of gas, rolled on its side in the center median at about 5:30 am near Exit 17, close to the Waterbury-Middlebury line, state police said. The highway is a major artery between Massachusetts and New York state.

Officials, concerned that an explosion and fire could result, evacuated as many as 70 people from 60 homes. By 4:30 pm, all residents returned to their homes, Chief Guisti said.

The truck driver was taken to Waterbury Hospital. The driver’s name and condition were not released, but police said the injuries were minor. No other injuries were reported.

Eastbound and westbound lanes were shut for most of the day, snarling traffic for miles on local roads that soon became choked with cars.

Complicating matters was a snowstorm that arrived late afternoon.

By 6 pm, tow trucks began the task of lifting the truck to remove it from the scene.

A Massachusetts company was called in to take care of the hydrogen canisters.

The firm will empty out the canisters “and hopefully that will make the salvage operation safe,” state police Lt J. Paul Vance said.

US Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, the fourth highest-ranking Democrat in the House, got stuck in the traffic while traveling from New York to Hartford for a fundraiser for Connecticut Representative Joe Courtney.

“We’re just in one long snake-line here,” he said in a cellphone conversation with Mr Courtney and reporters.

The westbound highway was first shut, but the discovery of the hydrogen leak prompted the closing of the highway eastbound from Exit 16 and the call for evacuations.

Chief Guisti said the shutdown of the highway led to congestion almost immediately along local roads in the town and in Waterbury. Route 64, a main thoroughfare in his town, was almost at a standstill five hours after the truck overturned, he said.

The police chief said state and local police were busy trying to detour traffic from the area and were encouraging travelers to use Route 8 north and south or Routes 6 and 67 to avoid the area.