 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
Back
|
Tanker spill snags morning traffic
By ADRIENNE P. SAMUELS
CLEARWATER -- An early morning semitrailer truck accident paralyzed north Pinellas County for eight hours Wednesday, sparking a massive effort among city, county and state agencies to clean up a fuel spill at Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard and U.S. 19, one of the county's busiest intersections. The Mack truck, which came from the Port of Tampa, was carrying 8,000 gallons of gasoline and diesel when it tipped over while making a right turn from westbound Gulf-To-Bay Boulevard onto northbound U.S. 19. It came to rest on its left side.
No one was seriously injured in Wednesday's crash, but thousands of commuters were late for work and school as traffic backed up from Palm Harbor to St. Petersburg during the morning rush hour. As a precaution, police shut down U.S. 19 and Gulf-to-Bay for a mile in each direction from the site of the 6:37 a.m. crash. But that was just the beginning. About 600 gallons of diesel leaked into the stormwater drain system, traveled a half-mile south to the Japanese Gardens mobile home park and emptied into a creek which runs into Tampa Bay, said Jeff Tobergte, with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Clearwater firefighters shut down the streets out of fear that a cigarette flicked out a car window could get into the storm drains and cause an explosion. "One mistake and we've got a huge problem," said Mark Weinreich, deputy chief of operations for the Clearwater Fire Department. "It's going to get hotter, and gas has a low flash-point." Pete Huffman, Assistant Chief of Operations for Clearwater fire, said: "Any ignition source could have sparked a fire." The Coast Guard said that no fuel got into the bay. Several restaurants closed for the day, but only a 24-hour Perkins Family Restaurant at 2626 Gulf-to-Bay Blvd. was evacuated. "I was just getting to work, and I saw the police sirens in back of me," said restaurant manager Tom Weinzetl. "I went in and the police said for everybody to get out, that there were thousands of gallons of fuel on the road next to my restaurant. They said, 'You could burn up in here.' " Twelve patrons and two employees left the premises while 33 rescue units hailing from Tampa, St. Petersburg-Clearwater Airport, Clearwater, Seminole and Palm Harbor responded to the scene. Police don't know what caused the accident but speculated that perhaps the fuel inside the tanker shifted, causing the rig to turn over. Police questioned and released the driver without writing him a ticket. He was identified as William Schultz, 57, of Tampa. "He says he wasn't speeding, so we take that at face value," said police Sgt. Jim Quinlan. Police won't know the cause of the accident until they investigate. They won't investigate until all the hazardous materials have been removed from the scene." The deep blue, 2000 model truck had five fuel compartments and was in good working condition on Monday, said Dale Abernathy, a manager at the Tampa office of Florida Rock and Tank. Abernathy said the truck was full and had left the Port of Tampa for a gas station on Sunset Point Road. The first compartment carried 3,000 gallons of diesel while the other sections carried up to 1,600 gallons of various kinds of unleaded gasoline. The truck driver is sore but otherwise uninjured, said Abernathy. The incident will be investigated by the company and will likely lead to more scrutiny of safety procedures, he said. The incident has nothing to do with Sunday's deadly explosion, Abernathy said. "A couple of days ago there were no mechanical defects on this truck," Abernathy said. "These two incidents are totally different setups in nature." Because stormwater drains into the gulf, firefighters and state environment officials blocked the drains with sandbags and absorbent padding. While the tanker lay on its side, firefighters climbed over and around it to spray "fuelbuster" foam into the storm drain. That foam breaks down petroleum, making it more less flammable. Water from fire hoses was then leaked into the drains, causing the foam, petroleum and storm water to run into the the padding and sandbags. The water was then vacuumed out of the drains at Harn Avenue. The process will be repeated until gas meters dipped into the drains come up clear. No animals are expected to be affected by the leak, said Tobergte, with the department of environmental protection. -- Times researcher Catherine Wos and staff writer Leon Tucker contributed to this report. Adrienne Samuels can be reached at 445-4157 or samuels@sptimes.com.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
Headlines From the Times local news desks |
