Truck carrying hazardous materials overturns at Exit 199 | Local News | Summerville Journal Scene

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Truck carrying hazardous materials overturns at Exit 199

Published Thursday, March 11, 2010 8:19 AM

By Stefan Rogenmoser
Summerville Journal Scene ®

photo by Stefan Rogenmoser

photo by Kyle Hilliard

**Update 4 p.m.

As of 2:30 p.m. the semi truck was moved to Turtle Pond Road behind Hess, according to DHEC’s Thom Berry.

The area is safe, Berry said.

As of 3:15 p.m. the Highway Patrol re-opened the exit ramp to I-26 from Highway 17-A.

Moran Environmental Recovery has opened the container doors and is cleaning up the spilled material, flame retardant polymer. This appears to be the entire load, made up of approximately 16 containers, several of which appear to have broken open, Berry said. Moran’s cleanup team is removing containers and cleaning up the inside of the container as of 3:30 p.m.

Summerville Exit 199’s westbound on-ramp heading toward Columbia was closed after a tractor trailer overturned at 6:30 a.m., leaking potentially hazardous material into the road, said Lance Cpl. Bob Beres, of the S.C. Highway Patrol.

Public safety officials set up a parameter around the scene for safety, and vehicles were not allowed on the westbound ramp.

The 18-wheeler driver, Andre Young, 48, of Summerville, was not injured, Beres said. Young attempted to make a left turn from Highway 17-A onto Interstate-26, Beres said.

Pine Ridge Firefighters, Berkeley County Sheriff deputies, State Transport Police and members of the Department of Heath and Environmental Control were all on the scene Thursday morning.

“The truck picked up a load at the Wando terminal, the State Ports Authority, and was en route to Rock Hill, and overturned on the exit,” said Thom Berry, DHEC Media Relations Director, who came to scene from Columbia.

“Right now we’re not 100 percent sure what is inside,” he said.

“We have somewhat differing reports as to what may be on the container,” Berry said. “Some reports say it’s Urea Condensate – that’s used as an ingredient to make flame retardant. There also may be some Organo Phosphates. They don’t like each other, they can react.

At least one driver spent time in an ambulance at the scene.

Summerville resident George Wells drove through the spilled hazardous materials and was stopped by Pine Ridge firefighters and spent time in an ambulance to have his blood pressure checked, he said. He was released and says he is OK.

There were no cones blocking the ramp at the time, he said. His F-150 truck was impounded to check for chemicals, Wells said. The only passenger was a black lab in the back – Wells says his dog is OK.

As of late Thursday morning, Berry said officials didn’t know the status of the material inside the trailer.

“The public safety agencies are going to try to make an entry, open up the trailer doors to see what the situation may be inside with the containers,” Berry said.

“Based on whatever they find, the environmental cleanup contractor will go in and do whatever cleanup is necessary.”

The contractor is Moran Environmental of Charleston, Berry said. Evans Delivery of Michigan owns the truck, Berry said.

Check journalscene.com for updates.

Jenny Peterson contributed to this report.

Contact Stefan Rogenmoser at 873-9424 ext. 215 or SRogenmoser@journalscene.com.

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