“Extended closure” expected after deadly crash and leak
There is no timetable for reopening part of the main southern Arizona highway southeast of downtown Tucson, officials said Wednesday afternoon, a day after a deadly desert crash caused a hazardous-material leak and forced evacuations nearby.
Less than 2 miles of Interstate 10 were closed in both directions between Kolb and Rita roads after a truck tractor pulling a box trailer crashed Tuesday afternoon.
Residents within a half-mile of the crash initially were told to leave, and those within 1 mile were told to shelter in place after liquid nitric acid was determined to be leaking from the wreck, the Arizona Department of Public Safety said. The shelterin-place order was extended to 3 miles Wednesday morning after more nitric acid was released as crews tried to remove the load, then reduced again to 1 mile by midafternoon.
Area residents were told to turn off heaters and air conditioning systems that bring in outside air. The acid sent up eerie yellowand red plumes over a section of the asphalt roadway that runs through dry land scattered with scrub brush.
The interstate stretches across the entirety of southern Arizona in its nearly 2,500 mile coast-tocoast sweep from Santa Monica, Calif., to Jacksonville, Fla.
By Wednesday morning, officials said the material had been removed from the truck and crews were using dirt to keep more nitric acid from being released.
The driver of the truck was killed, the department said, but few other details were released.
The agency warned Tucsonarea drivers early on to anticipate traffic delays in and around I-10.
“This will be an extended closure,” it said in a tweet Tuesday evening.
The University of Arizona Tech Park was among the areas evacuated. Some schoolchildren in Rita Ranch were among those who sheltered in place, the Arizona Daily Star reported. A high school that was ordered closed, a mobile home park for older adults and an RV resort are less than a mile from the accident site.
Nitric acid is used to make ammonium nitrate for fertilizers and in the manufacture of plastics and dyes.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website says says exposure to nitric acid can irritate the eyes, skin and mucous membranes. Depending on how long someone is exposed to the material, and how much, it also can cause delayed pulmonary edema, pneumonitis, bronchitis and dental erosion.