Chemical Tanker Truck Flips Over

On Exit 11 Off-Ramp

By Andrew Gorosko

A tractor-trailer tanker truck, which was hauling 65,900 pounds of a nonflammable resinous chemical during heavy rain on the morning of Saturday, June 2, skidded while negotiating a curve on the Exit 11 off-ramp of Interstate 84, sliding off the pavement and then rolling onto its left side, state police said.

State police said that trucker Joseph Wells, 46, of Dunmore, Penn., was not injured in the 8 am crash.

The vehicle received heavy damage on the left side of its tractor and on the left side of its trailer, but the cargo tank mounted on the trailer did not leak any of its cargo, state police said. The vehicle is owned by Quality Carriers, Inc, of Joliet, Ill.

State police, the Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company, and the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) inspected the vehicle after the crash, state police said.

To simplify unloading the flipped tanker truck’s cargo, officials closed both the eastbound and westbound off-ramps for Exit 11. Those ramps remained closed until about 1:30 pm.

DEEP spokesman Dwayne Gardner said that the tanker truck was hauling a highly viscous chemical product with the trade name Clear Floc, which is a gelatinous polypropylene substance that is used by sewage treatment plants to clarify water. The substance clarifies murky water caused by floating organic and inorganic particles.

The trucking company hired an environmental contractor to unload the flipped truck’s cargo so that the truck could be righted, Mr Gardner said.

“A small amount of diesel fuel leaked from the truck’s saddle tanks, but that [fuel] was contained in the immediate area, so there was minimal environmental damage, “ Mr Gardner said.

Sandy Hook Fire Chief Bill Halstead, who was incident commander, said that when he arrived at the accident scene, a motorist who had stopped at the accident was in the process of helping the trucker get out of the flipped truck.

The Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps responded to the accident.

About 19 Sandy Hook volunteer firefighters went to the incident, which occurred in the area where the Exit 11 off-ramp takes a sharp right curve before intersecting with Wasserman Way.

Chief Halstead said that the sharp curve, which drivers encounter after traveling on a long straightaway, has been the scene of many rollover accidents over the years.

Enforcement information on the incident was not available from state police.