MLK/Riverfront Parkway Hazmat Response

Evacuations took place in Downtown Chattanooga Monday night due to a chemical spill. At 6:11 PM on 10/9/23, the Chattanooga Fire Department and Chattanooga Police Department responded to Riverfront Parkway and Martin Luther King Boulevard after a rollover accident involving a tractor trailer. The semi had 13 totes of chemicals with 42,000 lbs. of organic peroxide on board. One of those totes was leaking onto the metal of the truck. Fire officials on the scene asked that businesses and residents in a ¼ mile of the crash site evacuate- north of the accident site to Molly Lane (including the two residential buildings and one business north of the accident site on the east side of Riverfront Parkway to Molly Lane), and west of the accident site to the river. The Avondale Community Center opened for shelter. There were no injuries to the truck driver. No exposures were reported. Emergency personnel identified the product involved in the incident, isolated the scene, and evacuated the area. Two hazmat entry teams went in and confirmed the chemical they were dealing with. They located the leaking tote, but could not get to the leak. Firefighters used soda ash to absorb chemicals and created a dam to contain the spill and prevent runoff. Marion Environmental responded to the scene to stabilize the situation and begin the hours-long cleanup process. They transferred all of the product into new totes. Then they removed the totes from the truck. Marion Environmental continued through the night to finish at the site. By 12:50 AM on 10/10/23, cleanup was still underway at the scene, but the leaking tote had been offloaded. The evacuation order was then lifted. Residents were safe to return home.

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