Acid Leak From Truck Causes Big Traffic Snarl

Thousands of gallons of hydrochloric acid solution leaked from a tanker truck onto Interstate 680 south of Pleasanton in Northern California in the morning commuter hours Monday, forcing the evacuation of nearby residents and creating a mammoth, daylong traffic jam.

No serious injuries were reported from the spill, which was described as one of the worst in recent years in the Bay Area.

But hundreds of commuters were exposed to a large white cloud of hydrochloric gas for about an hour between 7:15 a.m., when the spill occurred, and 8:10, when roadblocks were set up around the site five miles south of Pleasanton in Alameda County.

“This is a big one,” said Sgt. Rich Garcia, public affairs coordinator for the California Highway Patrol in the Bay Area. “We’ve been taking calls from people who had to drive through the area on their way to work and complained of eye and skin irritation.”

No lasting health effects were predicted, however. The solution, commonly called muriatic acid, is often used in swimming pools.

However, more than 1,000 gallons of the caustic substance flowed into nearby Arroyo de la Laguna, endangering fish and wildlife in the creek and in the Alameda Creek Reservoir downstream, Garcia said.

Residents of more than a dozen nearby farmhouses were evacuated from the area during the cleanup operation.

The driver, Filbert Soito, 60, of the Giacomazzi Transportation Co. in San Jose, ran from the truck as soon as he noticed the leak, and was uninjured, Garcia said.