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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Leaky chemical truck prompts emergency alert for nearby residents

Firefighters with the Spokane Fire Department's Hazmat unit, work to contain a tanker truck leaking vapors from a load of anhydrous trimethylamine parked at the Port of Entry scalehouse 4 miles east of Liberty Lake. The Washington State Patrol has closed Interstate 90 in both directions as the incident is being resolved. (Colin Mulvany / The Spokesman-Review)
A tanker truck leaking a hazardous chemical shut down Interstate 90 near the Washington-Idaho state line for hours today and released fumes that sickened two police officers and prompted officials to advise nearby residents to stay indoors. A six-mile stretch of I-90 from Liberty Lake to Post Falls was closed before 2 p.m. and remained deserted into the night. Officials also closed the Centennial Trail along the Spokane River and later shut down East Appleway Avenue, a detour route, as fumes from the truck spread. All freeway traffic then was diverted to East Wellesley Avenue to the north. The truck was parked at the Washington State Patrol weigh station and Port of Entry just east of Liberty Lake. At 9 p.m. an emergency alert was issued advising anyone within a half mile of there to take shelter indoors with their windows closed and air conditioning off. The warning was prompted by two police officers south of the interstate who complained of throat irritation and headaches, said Andy Hail, deputy chief of the Spokane Valley Fire Department. The measure is a precaution, Hail added. “We don’t feel there’s any imminent public risk at this time,” he said. The Florida-based truck is carrying 7,000 gallons of anhydrous trimethylamine, a flammable substance used in making solvents, animal feed supplements and products consumed by the paper, oil and gas industries. The rare decision to shut down the freeway in both directions was intended to keep drivers away from the truck, parked just along the westbound lanes. Traffic backed up for miles at detours in Liberty Lake and Post Falls. “It’s a minor event that has major potential” to turn serious, Hail said earlier in the day. The truck was westbound on I-90, approaching Washington, when a motorist traveling in the same direction called 911 to report an odor coming from the tanker shortly before 1 p.m. Anhydrous trimethylamine almost instantly turns into a gas when exposed to air. The colorless gas has a strong fishy odor in low concentrations and smells like ammonia at higher concentrations. The truck was pulled over at the Port of Entry just east of Liberty Lake, and fire crews set up a perimeter around it. One concern was that passing vehicles could ignite the vapors, causing the tanker to explode, Hail said. Also, the gas posed a potential health risk, he said. Hazardous materials crews from Spokane and Fairchild Air Force Base were trying to remove a small amount of the liquid that got into a vapor recovery line on the truck, Hail said. Technicians waited several hours while crews tracked down a compatible hose fitting for the job. “They’re going to stop at a store and see if they can come up with a coupling system that might work,” Hail said. “You’ve got to be resourceful in this business.” The hazmat workers who approached the truck wore total containment suits and had to plan their moves carefully, he said. “That’s what hazmat is – very methodical.” Complicating matters further, hazmat technicians were not getting reliable readings on air monitoring equipment, he said. Hail said it’s rare to close the interstate and divert traffic for a hazardous material response. “Very unusual, and state patrol does not like to do it, and we understand exactly why,” he said. “The supervisor here was nervous, because that’s a big call. It’s really a big call,” he said. “The governor has to be notified, and then they have to notify the feds because it’s interstate transport.” This chemical requires a 350-foot isolation area in the event of a leak, Hail said. “We didn’t really have any choice.” The shutdown, though a hassle for drivers, did allow crews to deal with the problem away from more densely populated areas down the road, Hail said. The truck driver was Robert Staab, 59, from Milton, Fla. The trucking company is Taminco U.S. Inc. of Pace, Fla. Taminco describes itself as the world’s leading producer of alkylamines and derivatives. Detours were set up at the Harvard Road interchange in Liberty Lake and, in Post Falls, at the Beck Road interchange initially, then at the Pleasant View Road interchange. Eastbound traffic was diverted onto East Appleway Avenue, until that street was closed, and westbound drivers were detoured onto East Wellesley Avenue. About two dozen firefighters were on the scene as well as the state patrol, Washington Department of Ecology and Washington State Parks. The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, Idaho State Police and Liberty Lake Police assisted in Sunday’s response. The Spokane Emergency Coordination Center was activated to support the multi-agency response.