LAC LA BICHE - Traffic along Highway 881 from the Lac La Biche Agricultural Grounds to the Corner Gas convenience store was detoured for a full day last Friday as crews worked to clean up a spill following a semi-truck rollover. Lac La Biche County peace officers say the lone driver of a semi-truck hauling dangerous goods suffered minor physical injuries in the single vehicle crash that happened just south of the Corner Gas fuel station.
Lac La Biche County Regional Fire Chief John Kokotilo said the northbound B-train truck was carrying liquid caustic in two tanker containers just before noon when the driver attempted to avoid wildlife on the highway. Liquid caustic soda, or lye, is sodium-hydroxide, a powerful corrosive used in the refining of crude oil and in the processing stages of the pulp and paper industry.
"There were concerns that the containers had breached and might impact the adjacent water body — Claude Lake," said Kokotilo, adding that municipal resources responded very quickly to the scene.
Lac La Biche County Transportation staff were part of that emergency call-out, creating a berm around the suspected spill area to contain any product that may have escaped from the containers.
The quick response, said Kokotilo resulted in "minimal impact."
While the chemical product was being contained, the trucking company issued equipment to transfer the product to other containers and remove the damaged semi.
Although the containment took place quickly, the crash caused the section of road to be closed for 10 hours, forcing traffic to detour using Lakeland Drive or Highway 663 to Deer Ridge Estates and the Shaw Lake Road.
Lac La Biche County's Manager of Enforcement Services Chris Clark said the highway was closed as a safety precaution while several agencies took part in the cleanup.
"The scene was attended by Fire, EMS, RCMP, Peace Officers, Alberta Environment, municipal and provincial transportation crews, and Dangerous Goods officers," said Clark.
