VIDEO: Truck carrying hazardous material from site of East Palestine derailment crashes in Russell Township
NOVELTY, Ohio (WJW) — A dual-axle tanker truck carrying hazardous material taken from the site of the East Palestine train derailment crashed and rolled over early Tuesday, spilling a small amount of its contents and some diesel fuel, according to officials.
The truck crashed on state Route 306, near the intersection of Chagrin Mills and Chillicothe roads in Russell Township, Geauga County, according to a news release from Russell Fire Department Assistant Chief Nicholas Sambula.
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Township firefighters headed to the scene at 5:17 a.m., according to a news release. The Chagrin Southeast Regional Hazmat Team responded to contain leakage of diesel fuel.
The truck was found to be carrying Class 9 hazardous material, a classification for “miscellaneous” materials that don’t belong in any of the other hazardous material categories, like explosive, flammable, radioactive or others, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
The truck was carrying about 5,000 gallons of hazardous waste from the train derailment site — mostly rainwater collected from the area that was not treated by the village’s wastewater treatment facility, according to an EPA spokesperson.
About 4 to 5 gallons of that material are believed to have been spilled at the crash site, according to firefighters.
The truck, which was operated by Kuhnle Brothers Inc. of Cleveland, was loaded on Friday, Dec. 29. It was temporarily parked at the trucking company’s facility before it headed out to a Vickery Environmental site in Northwest Ohio for disposal in a deep well injection site, according to the EPA.
After the crash, the hazardous liquid escaped through “minor leaks” in the tanker truck’s dome lid, according to the EPA. The hazmat team on-scene used containment basins to collect the liquid.
Video from SkyFOX early Tuesday showed what appeared to be a tanker truck on its side, and a pole taken out:
(WJW photo) (WJW photo) (SkyFOX)
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FOX 8’s Patty Harken reported the crash happened at about 5:15 a.m. The road was closed between state Route 87 and Washington Street, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation, and was expected to remain closed for the morning traffic rush.
As of 1 p.m., Chillicothe Road was closed from Kinsman Road to Music Street for cleanup and repairs to electrical lines damaged in the crash, according to the release.
Township firefighters and police and hazmat responders were still on-scene.
Numerous other groups also responded to the scene, including the trucking company, the EPA and Norfolk Southern.
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