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Phosphoric acid spills at crash scene

Matt Hudson | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 9 years, 6 months AGO
by Matt Hudson
| April 24, 2015 12:07 PM

Officials say the freight truck that tipped over on Montana 35 Thursday spilled 125 gallons of acid, but the compound wasn’t as dangerous as previously reported.

Jon Campbell, assistant chief with the Kalispell Fire Department, said Friday the truck leaked phosphoric acid rather than hydrochloric acid. Reports of the latter could have been because the phosphoric acid has a small amount of hydrochloric acid mixed in its solution.

Phosphoric acid is commonly used in soda pop but can still be corrosive to skin. The Kalispell hazardous-materials team was called to neutralize and contain the spill.

“We applied some acid neutralizing product just to make sure, because the trailer had to be towed away and cleaned out,” Campbell said.

The spill was confined to the area where the semi-truck had tipped over. It lost about half of the acid it was carrying in an auxiliary trailer.

Steven Stanley, who manages the Lake County Office of Emergency Management, called the spill a “non-issue” due to the contained spill and quick response of cleanup crews. He said the acid didn’t reach Flathead Lake on the other side of the highway.

“The product never reached the dams and it was contained,” Stanley said.

The truck tipped around 8 a.m. Thursday morning five miles south of Yellow Bay along the east shore of Flathead Lake.

According to the Montana Highway Patrol, the truck driver was distracted by the scenery and veered to the right while traveling north on the narrow highway. No injuries were reported, but the highway was partially blocked for nearly 10 hours as responders worked to clear the scene.

The Kalispell hazmat crew was called out Thursday afternoon. Campbell said that as workers moved boxes out of the overturned trailer, they eventually moved one that was covering a spill valve on the acid container. The valve released when the trailer overturned, which started the leak.

The truck belonged to Merganthaler, a Montana-based freight business. A spokesman for the company said the phosphoric acid was bound for the water treatment facility in Kalispell. He said that he didn’t know the exact amount of liquid lost in the spill, but called the material “pretty innocuous.” 

“We didn’t lose a lot, but it was just a minimal amount of soda acid,” said Art Villa, vice president of safety and compliance for Merganthaler.

He added that the driver walked away from the incident and the truck was driven from the scene once it was righted.

Campbell said Merganthaler was “incredibly cooperative.” He also said that the work of Stanley’s office, Finley Point Fire Department and the Montana Department of Transportation helped make it a smooth cleanup.

Stanley said that the highway was cleared and open at around 6 p.m. Thursday.

“They took care of the scene and the trailer was taken to Merganthaler’s lot to be processed,” he said.

Reach Reporter Matt Hudson at 758-4459 or by email at mhudson@dailyinterlake.com.

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