Community Corner

CHP: Overturned Truck Actually Spilled 4,000 Gallons of Gasoline in San Rafael

Earlier estimates had put that figure at 1,700 gallons.

By Bay City News Service:

California Highway Patrol officials Tuesday said 4,000 gallons of gasoline spilled when a big-rig with two tank trailers overturned on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard near San Quentin State Prison in Marin County on Monday. 

The CHP had initially estimated about 1,700 gallons of fuel spilled from the rear trailer of the big-rig when the right tires on one of the trailers went onto the soft right shoulder of the road and slid out, causing the big-rig to overturn around 7 a.m. 

The company that owns the big-rig, Alliance Tank Lines Inc. of Dixon, paid a clean-up crew to respond to the spill, CHP Officer Andrew Barclay said Tuesday morning. 

Each of the tank trailers actually contained 4,000 gallons of fuel, Barclay said Tuesday.

The rear trailer ruptured and spilled fuel onto the roadway. The 4,000 gallons in the other trailer that was not punctured were vacuumed into another tractor-trailer that responded to the scene, Barclay said. 

The big-rig was righted onto its wheels around 6:40 p.m. and taken from the scene. 

A paving crew then dug a 30-foot-long, 24-foot-wide and 6-inch deep stretch of road to remove gasoline-contaminated soil and repave the road, Barclay said. The road reopened to traffic around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday

San Rafael firefighters created a primary containment area around the leaking tank and a secondary containment on the road and adjacent to the road to capture leaking fuel, Fire Chief Chris Gray said. 

The San Quentin Fire Department did an excellent job of capturing fuel runoff adjacent to the road in a catch basin to keep it out of San Pablo Bay, Gray said. 

Firefighters from Larkspur also responded to the spill, which caused the evacuation of at least 10 homes on Valley Way in San Quentin Village on the prison grounds and closed Sir Francis Drake Boulevard between Larkspur Landing Circle and Interstate Highway 580. 

The big-rig driver, Christopher Knight, 30, of Sacramento, was able to get out of the 2008 Peterbilt truck and was not injured, Barclay said. 

"It's truly amazing that this dangerous incident has not resulted in an injury, fire or environmental disaster," Gray said. "Significant credit for this goes to the planned and purposeful response by all of the first responders and personnel from San Quentin," Gray said. 

San Rafael Fire Department Battalion Chief Jeff Buscher was in command of the first responders, Gray said. 
 
 
 


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