HCl delivery was on its way to Desert Wave Pool in Price
Emergency responders were called out Wednesday afternoon when the roadway and ground beneath a tanker truck trailer subsided, causing the trailer to list badly to one side. One “leg” of the landing gear sunk through the pavement on 400 North near 200 East. The street was repaved last summer following the installation of a sewer line.
Price City Public Works Director Miles Nelson said the driver was pulling double trailers and dropped one in order to back the other through an alley to the water treatment facilities behind the indoor swimming pool.
But the driver did not put platforms under the landing gear, as is standard practice, and the leg pushed through the pavement under the weight of the trailer. Hydrochloric acid weighs almost twices as much as water. Nelson said the trucking company, Thatcher Transportation, will be billed for damages to the pavement and curb & gutter.
City Facilities Manager Tamera Gray said T-Chlor deliveries are made “every couple of weeks” during the summer, and hydrochloric acid is delivered every couple of months. She said hydrochloric acid is used to balance pH levels so the chlorine is more effective.
The street was closed and the Carbon County Hazardous Materials team was called out because the trailer contained a load of hydrochloric acid, but there was never any threat of a chemical leak.
Landon’s Diesel Service got the trailer righted again, allowing the driver to hook up and get back on the road.