Tanker Truck Accident in Gonzales CA Causes Massive Fuel Spill

February 23rd, 2010 |

GONZALES, CA – A tanker truck crashed and rolled over in California Thursday causing a massive fuel spill. The truck accident happened on Highway 101 in Gonzales in Monterey County. The accident area is in the southwest section of the state near the Pacific Ocean, 287 miles northwest of Los Angeles, CA and 123 miles south of San Francisco, CA.

The driver went off the road and crashed into a highway guardrail and rolled over, with the tanker truck ending upside down on its roof. The truck driver was trapped in the cab of his tanker truck

At around 1:30 a.m. Thursday morning an unidentified truck driver, in his 50s, from Salinas, CA was driving south on Highway 101. He was driving a double tanker truck loaded with 7500 gallons of diesel fuel.

As the truck driver drove through the area near Fifth Street he suddenly lost control of the tanker truck. The driver went off the road and crashed into a highway guardrail and rolled over, with the tanker truck ending upside down on its roof.

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After the rollover the truck driver was trapped in the cab of his tanker truck. Emergency workers had to extricate him before they could treat him. Once free the truck driver was transported to Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital. His injuries are reportedly minor and not life threatening.

When the double tanker truck rolled over the two tanks carrying fuel were damaged and diesel fuel spilled out onto the highway area. Authorities estimated that about 4500 gallons of fuel were spilled down the grassy median of the highway. According to California Highway Patrol the spill was described as being about 350 feet long and 6 to 7 feet wide.

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NRC Environmental Services, an environmental cleanup company based in Alameda, CA, was brought in to handle the truck accident scene. The company sent in crews to clean up the diesel fuel, and used a machine to suck up the diesel fuel on the surface of the grassy median.

Once the surface fuel was removed from the scene of the truck accident, crews would excavate the contaminated dirt within a 350 radius of the overturned truck and fill it back with clean dirt. When the cleanup job is done, Hazmat crews from the Monterey County Health Department will test the soil to see if it is safe. This cleanup project was expected to take a couple of days.

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The two tankers from the truck were heavily damaged in the truck collision. The tankers could not be wheeled out due to the extent of damage, so NCR would remove them from the scene.

The truck accident had a major impact on the traffic in the area. CHP shut down the southbound lanes of Highway 101 between Alta and 5th Streets. One northbound lane was also shut during the cleanup operation. By Thursday afternoon CHP opened one lane going in each direction. The section around the truck accident area would remain limited to one lane in each direction well into Friday afternoon as crews continued to work. California Department of Transportation expected all lanes to reopen around 3:00 p.m.

The truck accident remains under investigation. No charges or citations have been made at this time.

For more information about California trucking laws, truck injury causes and victims rights, contact a California truck accident lawyer. For a free initial consultation, contact a nationwide truck accident attorney at Gordon & Elias for the best advise possible.