Toxic leak closes N.M. Highway 124

After a seven-hour clean-up of toxic chemicals leaked from a damaged
container in their load, Missouri drivers back tractor to trailer and
prepare to leave NM Highway 124 at Interstate 40 exit 89. [photo by Helen Davis / Independent]

By Helen Davis
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — Flammable liquid leaking from a tractor-trailer closed parts of New Mexico Highway 124 for seven hours yesterday.

The driver of an ATP Trucking Company rig carrying a highly flammable resin from St. Louis to Chico, Calif., was notified by a fellow truck driver that he was losing liquid from the trailer and pulled over around 10:30 a.m. He parked just east of the Sky Way Travel Center, formerly known as Stuckey’s, at Interstate Highway 40 exit 89, and authorities were called, a spokesman from the New Mexico State Police said. NMSP did not release the name of the drivers, a husband and wife team.

The leakage was caused by damage to a 55-gallon drum containing the hazardous chemical, apparently from a forklift during the loading process in St. Louis, state police said. No one was injured and no tickets were issued.

Officer Molina of the Motor Transportation Police said workers from the New Mexico Department of Transport District Office in Milan were first on the scene. Rigoberto Montoya and Marvin Bustos, DOT District 6 employees, were in the area when the problem was discovered. They immediately closed the highway from the exit to Anzac, a stretch of about 2 1/2 miles.

Ultimately, the Pueblo of Acoma Hazmat team from the Acoma Fire Department, the Grants Hazmat team, Advanced Environmental Solutions from Belen, the NMSP, the DOT and the Motor Transportation Police were at the scene involved in traffic management and clean up.

Claudia West, who was working the counter at the travel center when the incident occurred, said she was not alarmed when the numerous emergency vehicles started arriving across the street. “I already knew,” she said. “The lady came by. They were a team, husband and wife.”

West added that the DOT workers came into the travel center convenience store. “They said that if it was anything to worry about, they would have come by and told me right away. At first they didn’t know what it was, but it turned out to be glue.”

She added that some local people who use the “old road” were upset and she told them the closure was out of precaution.

The leaked material was cleaned up and the road reopened by 5:30 p.m., the NMSP police said.