Highway 174 remained closed, a day after a Wednesday evening truck crash, while crews cleaned up a diesel oil spill.
The collision sent one woman to hospital in critical condition and caused major delays through the day as crews worked to remove the tractor- trailer from a ditch and clean up diesel that spilled on the road.
Ottawa Fire Service estimated that 100 to 200 litres of fuel spilled into the Ottawa River before crews detected the leak from the truck’s side tanks.
Ottawa Fire spokesman Marc Messier said he realized many people would ask how a night accident was still being cleaned up the next day.
“I guess it’s probably surprising as to why almost 24 hours later the road is still closed. They have to understand it’s very heavy equipment and it’s a very long process,” said Messier, adding the load of sand the truck was carrying had to be removed and the truck divided into sections before it could be lifted from the 15-foot ditch.
Earlier, on Wednesday night, crews had used hydraulic tools to free a woman trapped in a four-door compact car that was also involved in the crash. The truck driver, too, couldn’t be removed until his vehicle was stabilized.
Then, crews had to determine whether the material inside the truck was hazardous. In this case, the driver was conscious and could tell firefighters that it was simply sand.
“In order for these things to be done in a safe manner, everything has to done in steps,” Messier said. “Then it’s making sure all the spill is taken care of properly because there’s no coming back once this stuff gets out in the environment.”
That meant setting up a boom in the culvert to block more diesel leaking into the river. Thursday morning water rescue crews set up another boom in the river so it wouldn’t get further downstream.
“Fuel will float on the surface, so as long as there’s something to prevent it from going underneath or over the boom then we can contain it until the hazardous waste disposal company arrives,” said Messier, adding that the company vacuums the diesel from the water.
Once the risk of fire has been removed — in this case the tractor trailer — fire fighters are done with the scene.
Then all contaminated soil is scraped off and taken away and the remaining soil is then tested for contamination, a process Messier said is overseen by the Ministry of Environment and the City of Ottawa.
The final step is cleaning the road. Before cars can cross, Messier said, the top layer of asphalt must be stripped to remove the contaminant.
“It’s also a hazard because it’s slippery,” he said.
In all, three dozen workers were on scene, including fire fighters, city crews, police and the waste disposal company.
“It’s about doing everything right the first time so that we can resume normal operations here,” Messier said.
Two people were taken to hospital: the 21-year-old woman, who was in critical condition, and the truck driver, after crash.
Alternate routes were recommended while Highway 174 remained closed between Trim and Quigley Hill roads:
For westbound traffic:
South on Cameron Street to Old Montreal Road
West on Old Montreal Road to Frank Kenny Road
South on Frank Kenny Road to Innes Road
West on Innes Road to Trim Road
North on Trim Road to Highway 174
For eastbound traffic:
South on Trim Road to Innes Road
East on Innes Road to Frank Kenny Road
North on Frank Kenny Road to Old Montreal Road
East on Old Montreal Road to Cameron Street
North on Cameron Street to Highway 174
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