Redheaded Blackbelt
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A spokesperson for the California Highway Patrol confirmed that a big rig carrying chemicals crashed on Hwy 101 south of Bell Springs Road about 5:15 a.m.. There was a hazardous waste spill. Hwy 101 is completely closed. There is no estimated time of opening.
Recently retired Laytonville Fire Chief Sue Carberry told us northbound traffic is being directed to Branscomb Road to the coast then north up Hwy 1 to Leggett and southbound traffic is being redirected using the same route.
Details are skimpy at this point as the area is remote and cell phone/as well as radio access is difficult.
The CHP Traffic Incident Information Page reports that the truck was hauling corrosives and is now leaking.
The Governor’s Office Emergency Services Hazardous Materials Spill Report states that about five gallons of a Hydroxide sodium (peroxide phosphoric acid and soduium hydroxide) solution spilled. The report said that a “freight truck overturned at the listed location due to unknown reasons. The incident resulted in a chemical spill to the roadway. The CHP and the local fire department are on-scene. No fires or injuries were reported and no waterways were impacted. The release has been stopped and the owner is en route to assist with the cleanup.”
The same report says that at first the “[reporting person] stated that there are two 28 foot box trailers that are carrying 475 pounds of Organic Peroxide, 578 pounds of Phosphoric Acid, and 2 drums at 1056 pounds of Sodium Hydroxide which is the only one actively leaking at this time. It is not leaking into any storm drains or waterways.”
The driver is uninjured and is not suspected of a DUI, according to the CHP Traffic Incident Information Page.
Please remember that information gathered from initial reports is subject to revision as more facts become available.
UPDATE 10:15 a.m.: Bell Springs Road is closed “1/2 mile north of Hwy 101,” according to the CHP Traffic Incident Information Page.
UPDATE 10:47 a.m.: Caltrans reports,
TRAFFIC ALERT: US Highway 101 *CLOSED * both directions south of Leggett and north of Laytonville in Mendocino County(post mile 81) due to overturned semi carrying hazardous materials. HazMat team on site.
No estimate time for reopening. Check https://t.co/dhQ8ZIyPGN for updates. pic.twitter.com/RRuFt7nRGe— Caltrans District 1 (@CaltransDist1) March 26, 2022
TRAFFIC ALERT: US Highway 101 *CLOSED * both directions south of Leggett and north of Laytonville in Mendocino County(post mile 81) due to overturned semi carrying hazardous materials. HazMat team on site.
No estimate time for reopening. Check https://t.co/dhQ8ZIyPGN for updates. pic.twitter.com/RRuFt7nRGe
UPDATE:
UPDATE 3:46 p.m.: The closure of Highway 101 persists this afternoon. The CHP Traffic Incident Information Page indicates crews have actively been working to remediate the hazardous material situation throughout the day.
A first responder at the scene told us 9:00 p.m. is the speculated time the highway will reopen, but that has not been corroborated by any officials, but the CHP Incident page does mention the reopening occurring this evening.
Please remember that information gathered from initial reports is subject to revision as more facts become available.
UPDATE 6:42 p.m.: Caltrans reported that “US Hwy 101 will open at approximately 7 pm tonight to one-way controlled traffic. Traffic will be backed up for a while and crews are still cleaning up. Please Slow down and proceed with caution.”
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I would not want to be driving on Branscomb Rd west of Branscomb or that Rt 1 up to Leggett with all these amateurs and rookies!! I would just go to Boomers or The Peg House and wait it out, read a book for a little, enjoy life…
How does 5 gallons possibly take over 5hrs to clean up?? They got the three stooges on the cleanup scene.
Trumpster sez: “Hold my beer. I can get this shit cleaned up in no time! I don’t care what the chemical interactions would be! Just hose it off the road!” 😳
Chronic TDS is detrimental to one’s mental health…
Love of con men is detrimental to everyone’s health
Similar to how democratic policy has been to detrimental to the state of California
Rite, its all about the money, I think you can buy this shit and any grow store. Half the people on the call probably smoking weed grown with chemicals.
Just like all the produce they eat or feed that their farm raised animals eat…
40 years ago it would have taken 5 minutes to push the wreck off the road,and a good hour to dig a hole and bury it. Now we have to examine it, write a full report, contact appropriate personnel, get approval to move forward, plan a 6 month clean up , then meticulously clean up every tiny bit and transport it to a different hole in the ground, I mean a certified hazmat landfill. Crack me up, some call this forward progress, I call it dumb. OMG , the chemicals could mix ,omg
It was over 750 gallons of other haz material that spilled
It will be very interesting to get the facts on this accident and how it happened. I am happy the driver is not hurt. Sure made a mess of chemicals!
Where do they use chemicals like that?
Sodium hydroxide is lye. Phosphoric acid is used in a lot of stuff, from MaxSea fertilizer to coca cola. Without the paper mill up there, I’m at a loss as to who else would use them all. I thought a chemical wholesaler somewhere in Oregon, but why travel 101 over 5? Peroxide was used a lot in the paper mill. In high concentrations, as an oxidizer, it was said it could set the asphalt on fire if spilled.
I thought a chemical wholesaler somewhere in Oregon, but why travel 101 over 5? Peroxide was used a lot in the paper mill.
Yeah this. The only pulp mills on the Oregon coast are in Toledo, west of Newport, though now that I think about it, there might be one in the Coos Bay area. I could be wrong about that, but almost all the paper/pulp mills in Oregon are in the Willamette Valley and south, all of which are near I-5.
Reedsport
That’s now a big flat empty field looking to be developed. Unless there is another besides the Gardiner one. It’s been gone for a couple of decades. Gardiner is a cute little hillside village now,
edited: It closed in ’99 and was torn down in 2006.
Sodium Hydroxide AKA Caustic Soda PH 14 is an extremely strong base used in cleaning industrial equipment such as beer making equipment at micro breweries. In small quantities it can be neutralized with Vinegar which is a mildly acidic just as a strong acid can be neutralized with a mild base such as baking soda. Extremely hazardous to humans, can cause burns and lung damage. The Hydrogen peroxide is an oxidizer and extremely flammable. My Chemistry teacher called it Boom Boom. This is a very hazardous spill and I am sure the hazmat team is exeraizing extreme caution
Sodium Hydroxide doesn’t necessarily have a pH of 14. Remember, pH is a measure of the concentration of H+ in a solution. A dilute sodium hydroxide solution may have a pH just above neutral.
Mixing an organic acid like vinegar (or really any acid) with sodium hydroxide in the presence of an organic peroxide is a recipe for disaster.
Peroxides themselves aren’t necessarily inherently flammable either. Peroxides are oxidizers. Organic peroxides, like other organic compounds, can act as a fuel when given sufficient energy. The substance being shipped is almost certainly an aqueous solutions that would not be flammable or particularly susceptible to decomposition. Calling it flammable misstates the hazard. The presence of an oxidizer is the hazard here.
It may also be waste material being removed from a decommissioned site like an old mill, but I agree, it is curious.
I was wondering about that myself.
Looking it up, it seems that Organic peroxides are used as cleaning or bleaching agents (used to bleach flour even)? Phosphoric Acid is used in fertilizers, soap, toothpaste, Coca Cola, al kinds of things.
And then,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_hydroxide#Uses
I think I should have paid more attention in chemistry class. 🙂
In the ganja everybody is smoking
Which explains a lot!!!
Any update on the road closure? We are heading to Kelseyville for a BB game. Any suggestions on the best route??
Looks like the locals on Bell Springs Rd. have a rifle stop preventing you from traveling on a publicly maintained road, so you’ll be stuck with going to hwy 1 at Leggett and around.
It’s definitely not a publicly maintained road, too many people get stuck and stranded in their little cars not knowing the road.
Bells Springs is a public thoroughfare and is the official 101 alternate when deemed safe to travel by a CHP recon, done day of need for an alternate route.
What is a local rifle stop?
What is a road rifle stop? Is somebody using a rifle to stop people from using Bell Springs Rd?
Thanks Steve…I have a cousin on Bell Springs Road I need to visit soon…
No one has a “Rifle stop”. The accident is 100 feet south of Bell Springs rd. Going up Bell Springs isn’t going to help you get around the accident. The road takes you north, not south. Don’t be rediculous.
The accident looks like it occurred on a fairly straight section of 101 so I wonder what caused it.
Looks like rear axle hanging kind of low on left side, spring maybe broke, ubolts loose , track arm broke. That would be the worst axle to lose. Peace out, power on , keep injecting yourselves with these chemicals. Drugs do the body good, but for heavens sake don’t drive over them.
Does anyone know if you can drive South on 101 from Branscomb Rd?
Yes, once you leave Hwy 1 north of Westport and head east, Branscomb Road leads you to Laytonville and Hwy 101.
Thanks Kym!
Bonehead truckers will have the detour messed up soon.
No they are not permitted as p let the smaller trailers are allowed on the 101 they are to long for that rose legally.
So glad to read that no one was injured…
“105-S4 REQ ALL IN ONE TO BE ENRT // HAS BEEN ASSESSED // FUELD TANKS HAVE BEEN PUMPED OUT BY HAZMAT // SHOULD BE DONE TONIGHT AROUND 2100 HRS // ONCE THE TRUCK AND TRLR ARE REMOVED WE CAN HAEV ONE WAY TRAFFIC CONTROL IN PLACE”