10 Tons Of Glycerin Spills Onto Roadway
POSTED: Monday, April 2, 2007
UPDATED: 1:09 pm CDT April 2,
2007
HOUSTON -- Ten tons of glycerin covered a northeast Harris County road after a tanker truck tipped over late Sunday, KPRC Local 2 reported.
Harris County sheriff's deputies said the truck driver took a corner too fast and overturned on Beltway 8 near U.S. Highway 90 at about 10:50 p.m.
"The tank was ruptured," Sheldon Fire Department Chief Sidney Webb said. "It went up against the curb there and the tank split and we have several thousand gallons pouring out of the tank."
The truck was carrying 44,000 pounds of glycerin for animal feed. Glycerin is a sticky substance that is commonly used in household products such as hand soap, toothpaste and shaving cream. It is also used as a softening agent for candy and cakes.
Officials said some of the glycerin leaked into the storm drains but did not get into the water supply.
"We got it all diked and secured," Webb said.
Crews spent hours cleaning up the substance.
"Glycerin is a very, very slick product and we're going to have to wash it down and then we've got to come back and steam it down. Once we do all that, everything that's underneath the ground here that's in concrete casing, that's got to be steam-cleaned and cleaned for state purposes."
The driver was not injured in the wreck.
The road was reopened to traffic shortly before 7 a.m.
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