Release from Hydrogen Trailer After a Road incident
A tractor-trailer carrying canisters of gaseous hydrogen gas crashed on a major East Coast route. Compressed hydrogen gas leaked from some of the containers after the truck rolled on its side.
Event Date
February 12, 2008
Record Quality Indicator
Region / Country
Event Initiating System
Classification of the Physical Effects
Nature of the Consequences
Cause Comments
Charles Schwab, a driver for Linde Gas Corporation, fell asleep at the wheel, crashing into a guardrail before ending up on its side in the median.
Facility Information
Application Type
Application
Specific Application Supply Chain Stage
Components Involved
Tractor-trailer, canisters, highway
Storage/Process Medium
Storage/Process Quantity
11360
Location Type
Location description
Inhabited Area
Operational Condition
Pre-event Summary
Interstate 84, abbreviated I-84, is an interstate freeway which extends from Dunmore, Pennsylvania to Sturbridge, Massachusetts, at an intersection with the Massachusetts Turnpike (Interstate 90)
Consequences
Number of Injured Persons
1
Event Nature
Emergency Action
Middlebury police said through a spokesman that it evacuated at least 30 homes in the vicinity of the leak. Hydrogen gas is highly explosive so the almost 70 people living in the area had to be evacuated immediately. The highway was closed for 14 hours. Both sides of the road were shut for most of the day, snarling traffic for miles on local roads that soon became choked with cars.
Release Type
Release Substance
Detonation
No
Deflagration
No
High Pressure Explosion
No
High Voltage Explosion
No
Source Category