Saturday, May 01, 1999
Wreck dumps acid near state park
The Associated Press
A truck carrying a hydrochloric acid solution overturned Friday morning near the Natural Bridge State Resort Park and spilled 1,800 gallons of the material into a creek bed.
Truck driver Eric D. Richard, 33, of Dunbar, W.Va., lost control as he was rounding a curve on Ky. 11 and the truck overturned on a Powell County creek bank, said Kentucky State Trooper Ralph Lockard.
Mr. Richard was not injured, Trooper Lockard said.
Firefighters isolated the area to minimize any threat, said Logan Weiler of the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management.
Lime was added to the water to help neutralize the solution, Trooper Lockard said.
A vapor plume formed and spread once the material mixed with the atmosphere, reaching a quarter-mile radius of the truck, said Joseph Schmidt, environmental response team coordinator for the state Department of Environmental Protection.
By Friday afternoon, the vapor was limited to the area directly surrounding the truck, Mr. Schmidt said.
An extensive number of fish were killed, Mr. Schmidt said.
Hydrochloric acid is a highly corrosive material that can severely damage tissue and respiratory systems.
Some of the spilled solution reached Middle Fork Creek, a tributary of the Red River. State officials were assessing the environmental damage.
Guests at Natural Bridge were evacuated, as well as some residents within a one-mile radius following the wreck shortly before 8 a.m. Friday.
By 12:30 p.m., guests and employees were allowed to return to the park.
But Whittleton Branch Campground in the park was expected to be closed until this morning because of the threat that the vapor cloud could expand, Mr. Schmidt said.
Mr. Richard was driving a truck owned by D&J Services of Dunbar. The company hauls acid used to clean water wells, Trooper Lockard said.
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Wreck dumps acid near state park
