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Spills & Sundry Messes

Suds fill streets in Idaho, Alaska

5 minutes ago

BOISE, Idaho - City streets got an unscheduled cleaning as a sudsy citrus-scented foam erupted from manhole covers like geysers.


The bubbles spewed from a three-block stretch on the city's east side Thursday after American Linen accidentally released detergent into the municipal sewer lines. The combination of gravity and churning water whipped the soap into a sudsy foam.

"We have never had a situation like this before," said Vince Trimboli, the public works spokesman.

Officials say the company had a malfunction, caused by human error, in its automated detergent loading device, releasing 167 gallons of a harmless but concentrated detergent.

Crews worked during the day to disperse the suds before they reached the treatment facility, then used soft-spray hoses and yard blowers to reduce foam levels closer to the plant.

"It had no effect on the treatment plant at all, and the closer the foam got to the plant, they were able to hose most of it off. None of it has gotten to the (Boise) River," Trimboli said Friday.

Meanwhile, there was a similar problem in Wasilla, Alaska. Clusters of foamy bubbles spewed from the city's sewer lagoon, witnesses said.

"It looked like the texture of something you'd see come out of your washing machine if you overloaded it," said Sue Foster, a student teacher.

Bill Harvey, deputy public works director, said that ice thawing on the city sewer treatment lagoons leaves an accumulation of residue and foam on the surface. He also suspected the treatment plant may have gotten a "good jolt" of soap residue.

Aerators that inject air into the lagoons to churn the water for treatment further stirred up the foam, he said. Then, swirling air currents at the treatment plant created a chimney effect that sucked the foam hundreds of feet into the sky and carried them over the city.

Grandview Inn general manager Sandra Joyner said a maintenance employee scooped up some of the bubbles. They had no smell and were a little bit iridescent.

"It was ridiculous. People were pulling off to the side of the road and running out, trying to catch them," Joyner said.


link

edited by TheQuixote: fixing link
 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7085109.stm

'Banana wave' hits Dutch islands

Thousands of bananas have been washed up on two Dutch islands in the North Sea after several containers fell off a cargo ship in a storm, officials say.

They say beaches on Terschelling and Ameland islands were littered with bunches of unripe fruit - to the delight of some local residents.

"I think everybody... has a bunch now," a Terschelling official was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.

It was not clear if the bananas were edible after floating in salty water.

The bananas were washed up on Wednesday after at least six containers fell off the ship transporting the fruit from Cuba, said Gossen Buren, a shipping official on Terschelling island. At least one of the containers burst open.

Hours later about 1km (0.6 mile) stretch of a beach on the island was littered with the bananas, Mr Buren said.

Local authorities are now in talks with the ship's insurance company on what to do with the bananas.

Some local residents had already suggested sending them to Dutch zoos, Mr Buren said.

The islanders are no strangers to different materials turning up on their beaches, including shoes, briefcases and toys.

The two islands are about 115km (70 miles) north of Amsterdam.

Pity they washed up, I was looking forward to a story of bananas bobbing through the oceans for years to come in a plastic ducks kind of way.
 
Truck loaded with eggs flips on road

46 minutes ago

PERRIS, Calif. - Scrambled eggs, anyone?


A truck loaded with 30,000 pounds of eggs overturned Monday, covering a rural road with a slippery layer of egg whites and yolks. No one was injured in Monday's crash, which occurred about 10 miles east of Perris in Riverside County.

Authorities had to shut down the road for several hours so workers could remove broken eggs and clean the roadway. Officers are investigating what caused the big rig to overturn.


http://tinyurl.com/38rbrp
 
Estimates anyone? How many eggs are there in 30,000 pounds?

I dropped one on the kitchen floor last week and it made a hell of a sticky mess. (No jokes, please)
 
Well it's certainly no yoke, someone will have to shell out to clear it up, I'm surprised they ommelette them get away with it.

Yes yes I know, I'm going.
 
'Average' apparently.
According to this site the average egg weighs 58g, Google reckons there are 453.59237 grams in a pound and my addled old head (with a bit of help from good old calc.exe) reckons that ( 453.59237/58 )*30000 is roughly 234620.

For some reason I am now trying to think of a recipe that would call for 234620 eggs and half a ton of honey (from the apocalyptic Russians thread).
 
14 tons of spilled Oreo cookies snarl Ill. traffic

Mon May 19, 9:00 AM ET

MORRIS, Ill. - Police say a trailer loaded with 14 tons of double-stuffed Oreos has overturned, spilling the cookies still in their plastic sleeves into the median and roadway.

Illinois State Police Sgt. Brian Mahoney says the truck's driver was traveling from Chicago to Morris on Interstate 80 around 4 a.m. Monday when he fell asleep at the wheel and slammed into the median.

"The boxes came out of the trailer and boxes were ripped open," he said.

The crash about 50 miles southwest of Chicago remains under investigation.

Mahoney says no charges have been filed but both lanes of traffic remain closed while authorities remove the cookies.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080519/ap_ ... RbNBAuQE4F
 
Tonnes of glass smash on highway

The prompt action of a lorry driver prevented a more serious accident when his load of mirrors began to shift.

The man made an emergency stop on a bridge and though the glass shattered all over the road, no-one was hurt.

The HGV, loaded with eight tonnes of mirror glass, had been redirected from a factory in St Austell and stopped on the A391 at Innis Downs.

Firefighters and highways staff helped clear the debris and the road was closed for a time on Thursday.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/7625289.stm

Anyone want to calculate how many years' Bad Luck that will bring? ;)
 
Exploding custard truck sends driver running
A lorry driver has been forced to flee after the 60,000 tins of custard and rice pudding he was transporting began to explode.

Last Updated: 2:34PM BST 26 Sep 2008

The cans of dessert exploded "like fireworks" after the a blaze broke out on his HGV.

The driver was unaware that his lorry, carrying 26 tonnes of Ambrosia custard and rice pudding to a local supermarket, was on fire and motorists were forced to flag him down.

He eventually stopped on the A382 in Chagford, Devon, and fled the truck seconds before 60,000 cans began exploding "like thousands of gunshots".

Fire crews raced to the blaze but the desserts were too well alight and the whole lorry was consumed in just 20 minutes.

Eyewitness Jill Pendleton, who runs a holiday booking company, captured the spectacle on her camera.

She said: "The first we knew about it was a whiff of smoke and burning sugar and then suddenly it just erupted.

"It was incredible how quickly the fire caught hold - the whole thing was over in less than 20 minutes.

"When the heat reached the tins they started to explode and we could hear what sounded like thousands of gunshots. It was quite a fireworks display.

"There were two huge explosions which we think were either the airbags or the diesel tanks.

"The fire crews got here very quickly but there wasn't much they could do as the contents had burned out. The driver seemed very shaken."

No-one was injured in the fire. Local delivery firm Thompsons, which owns the lorry, were unavailable for comment yesterday.

A spokesman for Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said the road was closed for six hours while debris was cleared.

He said: "On arrival the crews found the lorry carrying rice pudding to be well alight on the highway. The incident was believed to be accidental."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... nning.html

Terrorists are obviously wasting their time with semtex, etc
- they should use custard!
 
Fish halt traffic in China

Motorists in China faced a very odd road block on Sunday after a lorry shed its load of live fish.

Thousands of fish jumped and flopped across the entire width of a motorway before they were eventually cleared.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-p ... 692455.stm

(With video)
 
Lucky escape: Driver cheats death after lorry spills load of giant logs on his car
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 2:11 PM on 05th November 2008

The driver of this car had a lucky escape after a lorry crashed and shed its load of logs on top of him.
The man in the Renault Laguna estate was driving in the opposite direction to two trucks when they smashed into each other yesterday.
Fire crews attended the scene in Immingham, Lincolnshire, and were able to free the driver with no injuries.

Glenn Ramsden from the Humberside Fire & Rescue Service said: ‘It has been nothing short of a miracle that the car wasn’t totally crushed in the incident and also lucky that there were no pedestrians in the vicinity at the time of the collision.
‘Our crews were faced with a very challenging task which was made worse by the possibility of the logs slipping and crushing emergency service workers on scene.’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... s-car.html

Pics in article - these logs are not for a wood-burning stove, they're treetrunks!
 
Tarmac lorry overturns on M3 in Surrey

Traffic has been forced to a standstill on the northbound M3 in Surrey after a lorry carrying hot Tarmac crashed.
The surfacing material spilled across all three lanes and the hard shoulder when the lorry overturned, then set. :shock:

Between 10 and 15 vehicles were involved in the crash, between junction three for Bagshot and Lightwater and junction two for the M25.

The Highways Agency said special equipment was being brought in to remove the Tarmac.
Police, fire crews, the ambulance service and the Highways Agency attended the scene.
There were no reports of serious injuries, but three men and a woman were taken to Frimley Park Hospital with minor injuries.

Surrey Police said the 26-tonne Volvo tipper lorry overturned and landed on a car.

A spokeswoman said the northbound carriageway was expected to be closed for several hours following the accident, which happened at about 0945 GMT.
The southbound carriageway was open but slow-moving, she added.
"It will be a very big clear-up operation," she said.

Motorists have been advised to avoid the area and a diversion has been set up, with traffic being diverted from junction three on to the A30 and then on to the M25.

BBC travel reports said all the vehicles involved in the crash had been recovered by about 1615 GMT, but the road closure was still in place.

Highways Agency spokesman James Wright said: "It has cooled quite quickly and will have to be physically scraped off using specialist equipment.
"Because of the amount involved, it will have to be done more than once so it will be a reasonably lengthy operation."

Mr Wright said diversions were in place for traffic heading northbound but it was not yet known how long the motorway would be closed.
A five-mile queue of traffic was reported on the M3, tailing back to junction four at Camberley.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-12448005
 
In any other country they'd probably just repaint the white lines over the top of it.
 
Utah highway shut after 20m bees escape from lorry

A highway in the US state of Utah was temporary closed after a lorry carrying at least 20m bees overturned, freeing the insects.
The bees were being transported to California, ready to pollinate an almond crop next spring.
Interstate 15 was closed down for several hours while local beekeepers worked overnight to recapture the bees.
The trip was among the last of 160 truckloads of bees being sent south from Adee Honey Farms in South Dakota.

Authorities closed the southbound lanes of the highway, near the Arizona border, for several hours on Sunday night. The road reopened early on Monday morning, but officials have warned drivers to keep their windows closed.
"The driver lost control, hit the concrete barrier and rolled over," said Corporal Todd Johnson of the Utah Highway Patrol. "Of course, we then had bees everywhere."

Driver Louis Holst and his wife Tammie were dragged out of the overturned trailer by first responders, but were swarmed by the escape bees on the highway.
"We just started swinging our clothes," Mr Holst told the Associated Press news agency. "They stung her all up and down her neck."
Mr Holst said he was stung about a dozen times and suffered a gash on his forehead. His wife also was both stung and bruised.
Two police officers were also stung.

Richard Adee, owner of Adee Honey Farms, said this truckload, worth approximately $116,000 (£72,500) was "pretty much a complete loss".

Local beekeepers worked overnight to capture the bees, but on Monday most of the inhabitants of the 460 hives were gone or dead.
"We tried to move them [the bees] as far out of the metropolitan area as we could," beekeeper Melvin Taylor told the Reuters news agency. "Because when those bees come alive today, they are going to be mad that their house is all [broken] apart."

Earlier this summer, an estimated 14m bees escaped from an overturned truck on a Idaho highway.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15439754
 
Five hospitalised after being sprayed with sulphuric acid that fell off back of a lorry near Buckingham Palace
By Chris Slack
Last updated at 7:48 PM on 16th November 2011

Five people have been hospitalised after they were sprayed with sulphuric acid as they walked near Buckingham Palace.
The substance was thought to have dropped from the back of a lorry before mixing with concrete and being thrown into the air.
The incident, which took place at around 11am outside the Grosvenor Hotel, also forced local shops to close.

Local worker Ben Gister said: 'There were a lot of police and fire engines, about 15 police cars and ten fire engines, and the road was closed from roughly 11am till 2pm.
'The emergency workers had all their chemical suits on, it was like a scene out of ET, but once they washed the road and put another chemical down to neutralise it they left.
'When it first happened we had no idea what was going on and it did cross our mind that it might be a terrorist, attack, but I would have liked to think they would have evacuated the area if that was the case.'

Pub worker Umid Sacoor also spotted the commotion when he arrived for work.
He said: 'It just looked like a water sludge and I was told that a lorry had passed by and dropped it.
'The funny thing was there were officers in chemical suits with the oxygen tanks and everything and then standing just feet from them there were uniformed officers talking to them with no protective gear on.'

London Fire Brigade confirmed it was called just after 11am to reports of a spill outside the Grosvenor Thistle Hotel.
A London Ambulance Service spokeswoman said emergency services had closed off parts of Buckingham Palace Road.
Scotland Yard said the spill near the Palace involved materials which fell from the lorry.
A fire brigade spokesman said no evacuations took place at the hotel but a 25-metre cordon was put up.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1dxPL6pi3
 
M1 shut after 'Marmite' lorry crash in South Yorkshire

A large-scale clean-up operation is under way after a tanker carrying more than 20 tonnes of yeast extract overturned on the M1.
The lorry, which was believed to be carrying Marmite, crashed and spilt its contents onto the carriageway at about 22:15 GMT on Monday.
Police closed the motorway in both directions between junctions 32 and 33 near Sheffield following the accident.

The Highways Agency said it hoped the road would reopen at about 08:00 GMT.
A spokeswoman for South Yorkshire Police said the tanker overturned after being involved in a collision with a motor caravan.
The tanker driver was taken to hospital but the driver's injuries were not believed to be serious.
The spokeswoman said: "We were called at 10.15pm yesterday to reports of a tanker, which was carrying 23.5 tonnes of waste yeast, overturning.
"Some of the contents were spilled on the northbound carriageway and we are in the process of emptying the remaining contents of the tanker and clearing up the spillage before it can be moved and the road reopened."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-so ... e-15933599

Although I like marmite, I actually prefer Tesco's yeast extract. But my local store has stopped stocking it, so recently I had to buy real Marmite instead - and I opened the jar for the first time yesterday... (Spooky, eh? ;) ).

Real Marmite is more runny than the Tesco version, so I can imagine what a tanker-load spilled on a motorway would be like!
 
Apparently the Yeastbound lane was the most badly affected...

I'll get me coat
 
I almost hesitate in offering this story to you punsters...

Holy mackerel! Lorry ploughs off road and overturns spilling 20 TONNES of fish across farmer's field
By Ted Thornhill
Last updated at 9:36 AM on 2nd February 2012

A farmer was understandably left fed up to the gills by the sight of fish after a staggering 20 tonnes of mackerel spilled onto his land from an overturned lorry.
It was travelling towards Ardglass in County Down, Northern Ireland, last week when it appeared to have caught a grass verge, ploughed through 30 yards of hedge and fallen into a field belonging to Gordon Flinn, 71.
A digger and a crane were called in as 12 men worked for seven hours straight in a ‘large scale’ clean-up operation following the accident.

Mr Flinn, a sheep and cattle farmer, said the fish were piled up to two feet deep in places.
He said: ‘We had a call from the police about 3pm, saying there had been an accident down by my land and that there were fish everywhere.
‘The driver had hit a verge and the fish had come down on the hedge, destroying it and spilling them all into my field.

‘When I got down there I expected to see boxes of fish fingers or something - but there was a 20 tonne silver sea of fish. It was quite a sight.
‘There were thousands of the things all over my land. It was a bit of a shock to say the least.
‘It took them from about 7pm to 2am just to clear it all up. It was about ten metres in diameter - they were all over the place.

‘The one really bizarre thing was though, is that there wasn’t a smell of fish. I think there was more than enough to feed the 5,000. We could have fed the 5,000 five thousand times over.
‘I didn’t take some for dinner - I don’t think I could look another fish in the eyes for a long time.’

Gordon’s daughter Louise, a 27-year-old civil servant, who took several incredible images of the fish, added: ‘It was like a catastrophe, as though the fish had fallen out of the sky.
‘We really couldn’t believe it until we saw it. It really was like something out of the Bible.’
Louise- who ironically doesn’t like fish - said that the family was taking it all in their stride, as a bit of fun - although it could have been a very different situation had the driver been hurt.

The man was initially taken to hospital, but seems to have had a lucky escape and later returned to the scene uninjured to drive the digger and help the rescue operation.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1lVilApzs

I spent a few months fishing on a trawler. For a couple of weeks we went after sprats, and although some of these went for food, quite a lot went for fertiliser. So perhaps the farmer could just have ploughed the fish into the soil!
 
M62 debris: Cars hit scrap metal on motorway

Thirty cars were left with punctured tyres or damaged bodywork after they ran over scrap metal that had dropped off a lorry on the M62 in Merseyside.
The cars had to pull on to the hard shoulder of the eastbound carriageway between junction 6 for Tarbock Island and junction 7 for Rainhill Stoops.

The Highways Agency said the incident had happened at about 06:20 BST.
Traffic officers put a rolling roadblock in place while their colleagues cleared the debris.
The area was said to be clear by 08:40 BST.

A Highways Agency spokesman said jagged pieces of steel had fallen from the lorry, which had not yet been identified.
Some drivers had damaged their vehicles as they collided with the scrap at high speed.
One driver reported that metal had struck the roof of his car.

The spokesman said: "We started taking calls at about 6:20 this morning, with some drivers saying they were stuck on the hard shoulder because they had gone over some metal.
"Traffic officers sent to the scene discovered there had been a shed load of metal which had fallen to the ground.
"A lorry driver later said he had seen the scrap fall from an HGV on to the carriageway."

Traffic on the Manchester-bound carriageway is now running as normal.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-me ... e-17607466
 
Caramel spill turns Nant Creuddyn river brown

Environment officers are monitoring a stream near Lampeter after a tanker crash saw up to 6,000 litres of caramel food additive leak into the Nant Creuddyn in Ceredigion.
The spillage on Friday has turned the river water a dark brown colour.

The Environment Agency said the caramel is not toxic but it could affect oxygen levels which could have an impact for fish.
Officers hope fast currents will mean the caramel quickly disperses.
The incident followed an accident on the A482 near Lampeter involving a tanker.

A spokesperson from Environment Agency Wales said: "Although the food additive is not toxic in itself, it can affect oxygen levels in water which could have a negative impact on the fish population.

"The current high river flows are helping to disperse the liquid quickly, but we will continue to keep a close eye on the situation and will do everything we can to limit the impact of this accident on the local environment."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-mid-wales-19853176
 
Shibby!

(Go on, you have to admit while it was a dreadful film, it was also surprisingly entertaining... :oops: )
 
Fuel tanker jack-knifes on A38 leaking diesel on to road

A fuel tanker has jack-knifed and is leaking up to 38,000 litres of diesel on the A38 in Cornwall, the fire service has said.
The fuel tanker became detached from the cab at 18:55 GMT at Tideford.

The Environment Agency said it was a "potentially serious incident" and there was concern about a watercourse.

About 18 firefighters are at the scene and the A38 has been closed by Devon and Cornwall Police. It is not yet known if anyone is injured.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-20721627

The watercourse seems to be the River Tiddy, which joins the R.Lynher to form St Germans River, and eventually reaches the sea via Plymouth Sound.
 
More info:

"The A38 at Tideford in Cornwall will remain closed until at least 4pm today (14 December) following a major fuel spillage.
A fuel tanker overturned and shed a large amount of petrol onto the carriageway at Tideford around 6.55pm yesterday.

The tanker had broken down on the A38 at Menheniott and was being towed when it came away from the tow truck at the top of a steep hill between Tideford and Landrake.
The vehicle rolled down the hill, jackknifed and turned on its side, rupturing its skin and spilling unleaded petrol down the highway.
It is unknown how much fuel has been spilt but the tanker was fully laden with 38,000 litres. At least one fuel cell containing 7,000 litres was ruptured.

A major incident was declared and police, fire, highways and the Environment Agency attended the scene.
The A38 was closed in both directions and a cordon put in place. No injuries were reported and no homes were evacuated.

Fuel specialists worked overnight to pump the remaining fuel from the tanker and the vehicle is being extracted from the scene by crane this morning.

The top layer of tarmac will be removed by Highways to make the road safe for drivers. It is likely that the A38 will be closed until at least 4pm to enable this work to be done.

Diversions are in place via Liskeard to Callington, with some cordons still being manned by police.
All services are working hard at the scene to enable the road to be opened as soon as it is safe to do so.

http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/10 ... in/?ref=mr

Link also gives access to a 9 second video of firemen spraying the truck, but a still photo would have been just as informative!

Another report is here:


Cornwall petrol tanker crash: 'Environmental disaster averted'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-20723552
 
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