Traffic flow back to normal on US-23, M-14 following acid spill

By Lisa Carolin AnnArbor.com Freelance Journalist

Posted on Sat, Jul 7, 2012 : 8:55 a.m.

Traffic is back to normal today on Southbound US-23 and Westbound M-14 following Friday's early morning closure and backups after a semi-truck spilled a shipping container full of benzene dicarboxylic acid on the road at 7:25 a.m. Friday. The US-23 and M-14 interchange was reopened Friday night at 10:20 p.m., according to the Michigan State Police.

Due to the danger of explosion, crews had to remove the hazardous liquid, which forced the highway to be closed down. A private HAZMAT contractor was hired to oversee the decontamination of Westbound M-14, and dump trucks poured between 50-100 gallons of sand on the spill to form a barricade to contain the acid.

The driver of the truck that spilled the acid was transported by Huron Valley Ambulance to the University of Michigan Hospital soon after the accident and was in stable condition. One other injury occurred when a tow company worker was exposed to the acid product when he dropped a piece of equipment in a standing pool of it and was splashed. He was decontaminated by the Washtenaw HAZMET Team and refused transport to U-M Hospital.

Officials said the acid, which is used in the manufacture of food and beverage plastics, dyes, perfumes and medicines, posed no danger to residents in the area.

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