Kennett, Mo.-A tanker truck carrying about 7,500 gallons of liquid nitrogen that overturned in downtown Kennett the morning of June 8 caused the evacuation of businesses and disrupted traffic for more than four hours. Fire Chief John Mallott told Green Markets that his crews took the precautions because they weren’t sure how dangerous the contents were, even though the driver said the fertilizer was non-hazardous. “It happened in the downtown area and people rushed out of their stores,” Mallott reported. “It was across from the local newspaper office, and one of the reporters even climbed up on the truck and helped the driver out.” Because the truck wasn’t flash-carded, he explained, the highway patrol had the city offices two blocks away fax for the MSDS for urea ammonium nitrate. Mallott estimated about 1,000 gallons that came out of the tank’s dome covers got into street manholes. What remained was pumped out into another tanker. Mallott said the cause of the turnover appeared to be the left rear axle spring, which broke and caused the trailer to start rocking side-to-side and finally tipped over the whole rig. Two large tow truckers were brought in to upright the tanker and tow it away. Authorities decided the mishap was because of vehicle malfunction, and no citations were issued. Mallott explained that the tanker ended up in the downtown area because the highway extends through the middle of town, bringing in what he described as “a lot of farm community traffic going back and forth.” He said he planned to talk with state officials to make some changes.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain