UPDATE: Cleanup from fuel truck rollover on I-5 in Lacey expected to extend into Monday evening
A semi-truck carrying fuel rolled over on southbound Interstate 5 in Lacey during rush hour Monday morning, blocking freeway lanes and spilling diesel onto the roadway. Cleaning it up was expected to take the rest of the day.
Washington State Patrol Trooper Robert Reyer posted on social media at around 7 a.m. that the rollover occurred on southbound I-5 at Carpenter Road in Lacey. He said the driver of the semi had been going too fast for the wet road conditions.
Two people were in the semi, and they were both taken to the hospital with minor injuries. No other vehicles were involved.
Reyer said the two right lanes of southbound I-5 were blocked, and Martin Way near Saint Martin’s University had been reduced to one lane. The Department of Ecology was called to the scene to handle fuel leaking onto the roadway.
Reyer posted an update at 12:10 p.m. saying the cleanup efforts were expected to continue into the evening commute, and the remaining open lane might need to be closed to remove the fuel tanks.
Reyer said the Department of Ecology needed to pump the remaining fuel out of two tanks on the road before they can be moved. The tanks include five chambers, and one was punctured, spilling diesel onto the roadway and into the grass along the freeway. He said the chambers have to be drilled into to be emptied, and that process can take at least 45 minutes for a single chamber.
Once the chambers have been emptied, Reyer said it would take a couple hours for a tow truck to remove the tanks.
Reyer recommended motorists use other routes to avoid that section of I-5 as they’re leaving work Monday evening.
This story was originally published March 13, 2023 at 7:55 AM.
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