BENTON -- Emergency workers were monitoring a tanker truck Thursday after hazardous chemicals stopped spewing from truck valves a few hours after the driver noticed the problem and parked at a truck stop off Interstate 30.
Richard Griffin of the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management said the driver noticed the "venting" about noon and parked at J J's Truck Stop at the highway's 106 mile marker. Almost three hours later, the tank had stopped "popping stuff out," Griffin said, and conditions appeared stable. No injuries were reported.
Firefighters, state and local police and emergency officials were on standby at the scene. They did not know how much chemical the tank was holding, said Griffin, the disaster management division leader.
The truck was carrying a mix of DuPont waste chemicals, including flammable, corrosive and toxic materials, said Kenny Harmon, the agency's hazardous materials program manager.
Harmon said the stainless steel tank can possibly hold up to 12,000 gallons.
The chemical company said the truck was headed to a Grafton, Ohio, incineration site. Pressure and temperature rose in the tank during the shipment and the valves worked as designed in "an unusual increase in temperature and pressure," DuPont said in a news release.
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The company said the tanker truck also vented air through a secondary pressure relief valve, as it is designed to do.
"The material being vented from the truck does have a recognizable odor because it contains mercaptans, the compounds that are added to propane and natural gas to make its distinctive odor," the company said.
The truck stop workers and customers were evacuated as a precautionary measure, Griffin said, after the truck tank valves blew out and the pressure subsided in the tank. The Arkansas State Police said the interstate remained open, although the exit was closed.
Glen Rose School District secretary Regina Burks said the school was told to evacuate, then later given the all clear. In about 45 minutes, Burks said, about 1,000 students were moved from the main campus to another school building five miles away.
Once the school got word from emergency officials that it was OK for the students to return to the main campus, Burks said, the students returned to their usual classrooms.
DuPont said cool water was pumped through the tanker's cooling system to reduce the temperature. Air vented from the trailer will be treated with a water scrubber, which will substantially reduce the odor, the company said.
"We apologize for any inconvenience that may have been caused by this incident," a DuPont official said.
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2007/03/13/news/030907artruckstopchemicals.txt
