Las Vegas Sun

December 4, 2009

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Acid spill shuts down I-80 at Golconda

Thursday, May 14, 1998 | 10:45 a.m.

A tanker truck carrying hydrochloric acid sprang a leak on Interstate-80 at Golconda Summit just east of Winnemucca Wednesday afternoon, shutting down the highway in both directions, the Nevada Department of Transportation said.

A hazardous materials team drove in from Carlin to empty the truck so traffic could begin flowing again, according to NDOT spokesman Scott Magruder.

The shutdown came a little over a day after U.S. 50 was closed by a washout east of Austin. That road is not expected to re-open before the weekend.

The highways are the only links across northern Nevada.

The leak was discovered at about 2 p.m. by a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper who noticed the truck parked along the side of the eastbound lane of the highway.

"He noticed some material dripping off the back of the tank," Patrol spokesman Garth Gardner said. "It's a very small, slow leak."

He said there were no homes or businesses nearby and the closure was precautionary, if inconvenient. With U.S. 50 shut down, no alternate routes were available that did not require hours worth of detours.

The highway reopened at 6:30 p.m.

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