Driver charged
THE driver of a lorry has been charged following the closure of the A85 for several hours last week as a result of a detergent leak.
A 25-YEAR-OLD lorry driver has been charged with allegedly having an insecure load after the A85 near the Halfway House filling station was closed due to a chemical spillage.
The road was closed in both directions for more than six hours after a ‘quantity of detergent’ leaked from a container within a Menzies Distribution vehicle.
The incident occurred at 8.35am on Wednesday September 27 and the road remained closed until 3pm, when police opened one lane. The road was then fully re-opened at around 4.30pm.
A spokesman for Police Scotland said: ‘Police and the fire service attended and the road was closed for safety reasons.
Examination and cleanup operations took place and one lane was re-opened with traffic being led through under police escort at 3pm.
‘A man aged 25 was charged with allegedly having an insecure load and a report will be submitted to the procurator fiscal. It was confirmed that the chemical involved was not a danger to the public or property.’
A spokesperson from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) said: ‘A lorry was carrying a number of intermediate bulk containers of chemicals and one of them suffered damage.
‘A quantity of a detergent leaked from one of the containers and onto the roadway.
‘Emergency crews closed the trunk road to traffic in both directions and cordoned off the vehicle until the chemical was identified.
‘A specialist chemical unit from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and BEAR Scotland contained the remaining spillage and oversaw the clean-up operation at which time the road was reopened to traffic.
‘A SEPA officer was on site to liaise with Scottish Fire and Rescue Service scientific advisers and there was no risk of pollution to the environment or harm to human health as a result of the spillage.’
A spokesman for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: ‘A total of two appliances and a specialist chemical unit were immediately mobilised and firefighters worked to contain the spillage alongside a scientific adviser.
‘There were no casualties and crews left the scene after ensuring the area was made safe.’
At the time of going to print, Menzies Distribution was unavailable for comment.