WGST-AM Truck w/ 9 Tons of explosives overturns in Hall Co. GA

WGST-AM | 10/28/02 | WGST-AM

[jriemer]

WGST-AM noon news update reports that a truck carrying a nine-ton load of blasting caps, booster charges, TNT, and liquid explosives overturned in Hall County, GA. The majority of the load was the un-named liquid explosive and it is close to contaiminating a local creek. Georgia HAZMAT and Bomb squads are on the scene.

More details to follow...

jriemer

[TonyInOhio]

truck carrying a nine-ton load of blasting caps, booster charges, TNT, and liquid explosives

Somehow, this reminds me of a Gary Larson Far Side cartoon...

[Vigilantcitizen]

Keep us updated.

[Dog Gone]

Let's hope the driver doesn't have a smoke to calm his nerves after the accident.

[alancarp]

Smoke 'em if ya got 'em.

NOOO!!!! WAIT - STOP!!!!

[Vigilantcitizen]

Dang, there goes the halloween fireworks. Now I'll have to go to Alabama.

[strela]

The majority of the load was the un-named liquid explosive and it is close to contaiminating a local creek.

Liquid = nitroglycerin? YIKES!

[Vinnie_Vidi_Vici]

It was most likely a slurried ammonium Nitrate charge like that used in the "Daisy Cutter" The large amount of nitrate would raise hell in a stream

<The majority of the load was the un-named liquid explosive and it is close to contaiminating a local creek. Liquid = nitroglycerin? YIKES!

[mhking]

Somehow, this reminds me of a Gary Larson Far Side cartoon...

Or an SCTV routine?

[Wright is right!]

Man, what's with the net speed this morning?!?! Everything is CRAWLING...

Your headline makes me wonder why a WGST-AM truck would be hauling all those explosives.

Michael

[jriemer]

From www.wgst.com:

Tanners Mill Road is closed, and a quarter-mile radius evacuated, near McEver Road in east Hall County where a tractor trailer overturned this morning. The cargo: about 18,000 pounds of liquid explosives. The state DOT and hazmat crews are working to clear the scene. No serious injuries reported.

jriemer

[mhking]

Pic of overturned truck from WXIA-TV/DT Atlanta

[strela]

Sounds logical to me - can't large amounts of nitrates cause fish kills?

[Vigilantcitizen]

Snip...

"Hall County Fire Chief Mike Satterfield said the truck wrecked around 7:30 a.m. and was also carrying 18,000 pounds of liquid explosive called Apex-Gold. The liquid is leaking."

From here.

[mhking]

From WXIA-TV/DT Atlanta (11Alive.com):

---

Officials evacuated residents within one mile of a truck that overturned dumping 8,000 pounds of explosives Monday morning.

The 18-wheeler was travelling along a stretch of Georgia Highway 211 in Hall County shortly after 7 a.m. when the truck overturned on the foggy and wet road. The road was closed in both directions.

The truck was carrying 18,000 pounds of explosives, including dynamite, blasting caps and a liquid gel explosive known as Apex Gold.

"We're in a very dangerous situation. We are trying to make sure we go very slowly and safely," Terri Pope with the Georgia Department of Transportation said.

As of noon, crews were working to upright the truck. Officials told 11Alive Reporter Tiffany Cochran that the blasting caps and dynamite had been safely removed from the truck. Two detonators were still missing, prompting officials to keep the road closed.

Members of the Environmental Protection Division were on the scene to help with the operation. The truck overturned less than 100 yards from the Mulberry River.

Apex Gold, a product of Orica, increases the efficiency of blasting. A spokeswman with Orica told 11Alive.com that Orica had crews at the site assisting the situation. They would not release any additional information. The company was expected to issue a statement at a later date.

Authorities evacuated four families in a one-mile radius of the truck. All other residents were apparently at work and so out of danger. The location, about 10 miles south of Gainesville, Ga., is a residential area in eastern Hall County, near the Jackson County line.

No injuries have been reported.

[steveo]

Dang, there goes the halloween fireworks. Now I'll have to go to Alabama.

DANG!

[Vigilantcitizen]

You figgered me out. Dang yor smart. ; ^ )>

[CFW]

So, if I hear a big BOOM! here in Athens, Ga, I will know not to panic? Nothing much in Gainesville, GA, but chicken processing plants.

[laker_dad]

Anyone see the infomercial on TV for some auto engine additive? The guy is trying to make a point that a poorly running engine wastes oil, gas & money. So he pours some gas, & oil into an off camera bowl of money. Then strikes a match & the money "burns". It was two different camera shots, but what a dumb ass thing to do!

[Diddle E. Squat]

Another mulletia member.

And time to ban banana peels, too.