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Wednesday, July 16, 2008 12:00 PM Chemical leak forces evacuation By Eddie Fitzgerald | Times Staff Writer KENLY -- A popular truck stop in Johnston County and five other businesses along Interstate 95 were evacuated early this morning after a tanker truck began leaking a chemical. At 3:34 a.m. emergency personnel in Johnston County were alerted that a chemical was leaking from a tractor trailer at the TA Truck Stop at exit 106 on I-95. Johnston County emergency personnel were on the scene by 4 a.m. Neil Byrd of the N.C. Highway Patrol said troopers arrived on the scene at 5:24 a.m. and blocked off Truck Stop Road and part of U.S. 301. Traffic was rerouted around the area, which was still blocked off by 8:30 a.m. "There have been no injuries," Byrd said. However, the truck driver was taken to Johnston Memorial Hospital where he remains in stable condition this morning. Byrd said the chemical was called silicon tetrafluoride, which is a colorless gas with a pungent odor. It can cause respiratory problems. According to a local television station that was on the scene, there was a vapor cloud around the truck. Pat LaCarter, public information officer for Johnston County Emergency Services Department, said by 8:45 a.m. the chemical leak was contained, yet still leaking, and hazardous material personnel were assessing how to stop the leak in the tanker truck, he said. "Someone has been to the truck to see what needs to be done to stop the leak and hopefully in an hour or so we will know what needs to be done to get the leak stopped and to clean up the area," LaCarter said. The truck carrying the chemical was with Transwood Carriers of Auroa. LaCarter said he was uncertain if Transwood Carriers was a contractor hired to carry the chemical or from the company that makes it. "The chemical can make you really sick," he said. "It is dangerous stuff from the stand point of a health hazard." LaCarter said about 35 to 50 emergency personnel responded to the chemical leak, including the Red Cross, Kenly Fire Department, volunteer fire departments from Micro and Smithfield, Johnston County Sheriff's Department, emergency services and N.C. Highway Patrol. "We have a pretty good mutual effort going on," he said. "I feel like the situation in under good control right now." eddie@wilsontimes.com | 265-7820 |
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