Sewage truck contents explode
By Craig Page Inner city traffic was showered with effluent and hydrogen peroxide after the back end of a septic tank vacuum truck exploded in Dunedin yesterday. The explosion, which could heard and felt several blocks away, blew out a window at the nearby Leviathan Hotel and sent a metal sluice valve flying about 15m into the windscreen of a parked car. No-one was hurt. A 50m trail of effluent was visible along Cumberland St, State Highway 1. The buckled rear cover of the tank was also lying in the middle of the road. The incident caused "major" delays for southbound motorists, Senior Sergeant Allan Grindell said. The one-way system south was closed for almost three hours, forcing peak-hour traffic to be diverted through the heavy traffic bypass on Thomas Burns St. Some bus services were also delayed or cancelled. Police said the cause of the explosion was under investigation. Toilet jokes were flowing thick and fast among the dozens of people who rushed to the area to see what the commotion was all about. The incident occurred about 3.20pm as the Dakins liquid waste truck travelled south past the Leviathan Hotel. The vehicle had been at the RF Woolscour near Logan Park cleaning out a sump and was understood to be returning to the company's Green island depot when the accident occurred. The back end of the truck, which can be removed for cleaning purposes, blew out, covering several parked cars and the four-wheel- drive vehicle travelling behind it in sludge. The truck's driver, Joe Callahan, was visibly shaken by the incident and at a loss to explain why it occurred. "There must have been a build-up of gas or something," he said. He confirmed the truck contained a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and sludge. "There was just this loud boom. It threw the truck across the road. I had trouble keeping it straight." The truck travelled for about 50m before he was able to stop it. Mr Callahan, who has worked for Dakins for nine years, said he could not repeat his words when he realised what had actually happened. "My main concern was to see if anyone was injured. Luckily, no-one was." Parry Thomas was travelling directly behind the truck when the explosion occurred. "You could see steam start to come from the side of the truck and then, boom." The back end door of the truck was thrown metres into the air. Mr Thomas' slammed on the brakes as effluent covered his vehicle."I had no idea what was going on. It all just happened so quickly. I thought I was going to end up with a car crashing into my backside." Mr Thomas said his vehicle was not seriously damaged, although it was now overdue for a decent clean. "Perhaps I might get that new paint job done now," he said. Both Mr Callahan and Mr Thomas were treated by ambulance staff as a precaution. Former Channel 9 head of production Lorraine Isaacs was one of the unlucky ones in the accident, her car being hit by a flying sluice valve. The valve left a dent in the roof of the car before smashing the windscreen. "I just thought how lucky it was I wasn't in it at the time," she said. The incident caused a traffic backlog for rush-hour traffic as Cumberland St was cordoned off between lower Stuart St and Queens Gardens. Southbound vehicles were diverted through the heavy traffic bypass through Thomas Burns St. Three lanes of the road reopened about 5.15pm and the remaining lane reopened about 6pm. The Dunedin hazardous substances committee was called out to determine the best way to clean up the spill. Dunedin chief fire officer Dave Seque said that, once firefighters were given the all clear by Otago Regional Council and Dunedin City Council staff, the sludge was washed off the road into the storm water system. Because of the heat of the road some of the sludge, which was not deemed to be toxic, had already evaporated, he said. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Stock for $4 and no minimums. FREE Money 2002. http://us.click.yahoo.com/orkH0C/n97DAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send "unsubscribe" messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
