Olathe, Kan.-A leaking anhydrous ammonia rig the night of Nov. 9 forced authorities to close both lanes of a 16-block stretch of U.S. 169 and move the truck and tanker to a safer location for transferring the contents. According to Fire Capt. Mike Hall, a passerby detected the leak about 7 p.m. and turned in the alarm, which brought out HazMat teams from Olathe and Overland Park. He said the rig was pulled over in the right northbound lane of 169 Highway. Fire crews discovered the leak was coming from the rear passenger side, where closer inspection found a set screw was missing from a 2-inch pipe. Hall said the tanker-truck was moved to the Olathe school district activity center, where fire crews monitored it for possible safety risks while the ammonia was offloaded into another tanker truck. He estimated that about 50 pounds leaked from the tank. “The driver told me at the scene he thought the tanker’s capacity was about 7,000 gallons and that he was transporting at 74 percent of capacity,” he reported. Traffic was allowed to resume around 8:30 p.m. No businesses were affected, and there were no injuries.
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