Date: Fri 21-Jun-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

gas-tanker-Route-25-emergency

Full Text:

Gas Tanker Truck Springs A Leak, Closing Route 25

State police report that a tractor-trailer tanker truck containing a cargo of

liquefied natural gas was found to be leaking the substance while traveling

westbound on Interstate-84 June 16, resulting in the closure of the westbound

Exit-9 on-ramp and off-ramp, as well as a section of Route 25 in Hawleyville.

State police said truck driver Joseph Ponessa, 54, of Walkill, NY, discovered

at about 10:15 pm that liquefied natural gas was leaking from the rear of 1988

Mack truck he was driving from Everett, Mass, to Chester, NY. The trucker

parked the leaking vehicle on the westbound on-ramp of I-84.

The gas discharge valve on the truck had broken, causing an undetermined

amount of the substance to escape into the atmosphere, state police said.

Before the discharge, there had been more than 37,000 pounds of liquefied

natural gas in the truck's tanker section, according to state police.

Liquefied natural gas is a compressed or liquefied gas obtained as a

by-product from petroleum refining. It is used as an industrial and domestic

fuel.

The trucking company, LP Transportation, Inc, of New York, repaired the

damaged valve and the truck continued on its way. The incident disrupted

traffic for about two hours, according to the state police.

Fire Marshal George Lockwood said liquefied natural gas is a substance which

is very explosive. As a precaution, the DATAHR group home for mentally

retarded people on nearby Old Hawleyville Road was evacuated during the

emergency, he said.

Route 25 was closed to traffic between the Hawleyville commuter parking lot

and Mt Pleasant Road.