Chemical Spill Closes Route 47

Southbound traffic on Highway 47 had to be diverted through the Washington Crossing Shopping Center Wednesday morning, Nov. 21, while Washington firefighters and police handled a large chemical spill in the southbound lanes, just north of Steutermann Road.

Tim Frankenberg, assistant fire chief, said an IESI trash truck was hauling a calcium fluoride slurry solution en route to a landfill in Richwoods when the material spilled out onto the roadway. The load was wetter than normal and when the driver hit his brakes the solution “sloshed” out of the truck, Frankenberg said.