Coffee to-go. Creamer spills in Philipsburg, closing part of Route 322 for 2 hours

Josh Moyer
·1 min read

A mile-long stretch of Route 322 was closed in both directions around Philipsburg — for about two hours — after a tractor trailer spilled an estimated several dozen gallons of heavy coffee creamer on the road Monday morning.

Motorists were forced to detour through Philipsburg, between 11 a.m. and just after 1 p.m., as Route 322 was closed for cleanup between North Centre Street and East Presqueisle Street.

According to Justin Butterworth, assistant chief of the Philipsburg Fire Department, the driver of the 18-wheeler acknowledged he hit his brakes hard, which popped open the top hatch of the vehicle and forced some of the “extremely slippery” creamer to spill onto the road. There was no crash, and there were not believed to be any injuries.

Although the fire department responded to the scene in about 10 minutes, traffic had already dragged much of the creamer in both directions to force the dual-lane closure. The fire department alerted PennDOT, which did not have a sand truck in the area, so Butterworth said the borough used its own specialized sand to absorb the creamer.

Route 322 around Philipsburg opened back up shortly after 1 p.m.

Hope Fire Company, PennDOT and the Philipsburg Borough all responded Monday morning to an incident involving a tractor trailer that spilled an estimated several dozen gallons of heavy coffee creamer on to Route 322, making for “extremely slippery” conditions.
Hope Fire Company, PennDOT and the Philipsburg Borough all responded Monday morning to an incident involving a tractor trailer that spilled an estimated several dozen gallons of heavy coffee creamer on to Route 322, making for “extremely slippery” conditions.