Toxic leaks prompt tanker route call
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• There are growing calls for designated tanker routes in the North East of England following two serious toxic leaks within 10 days.
The first incident involved a 23-tonne tanker travelling be tween ICI's Seal Sands depot in Cleveland and Sterling organics plant in Crandington.
The tanker leaked toxic liquid phenol through a faulty pipe, leaving 58 people in need of hospital treatment.
In the second incident, 24 houses in Sunderland needed to be evacuated when a Dutch tanker carrying highly toxic methyl acrylate was in collision with a car.
The tanker, bound for the Rohm and Haas factory in Jarrow, already had a small seepage of water from the lining of the tank, but when the vehicle was involved in the accident the tank's relief valve allowed a slight escape of methyl acrylate, which has a flashpoint below freezing point. Three people received hospital treatment after the accident.
Newcastle's deputy chief fire officer Bill Dunlop says, "We will be asking for designated routes to prevent lor
ties like these going through busy urban areas."
Les Russell, highways committee chairman of Newcastle City Council, says: "I support the fire chief's call for designated tanker routes, but I would like to see whether they are practical or not."
Labour MP John Mc William says, "I would certainly support designated routes for tankers, as well as a national reporting system, where people carrying dangerous loads have to file their route in advance."
Ironically, chemical company Rohm and Haas encourage tanker drivers to avoid built-up areas, but in the incident involving the Dutch tanker carrying methyl acrylate, driver Jan Van Der Woude (54) chose to travel through Sunderland instead of sticking to the Al(M) and A19. E Van Der Woude was later fined 2100 for dangerous driving.