Tanker overturns

GAVERS - A tanker truck overturned Monday on state Route 164 just south of state Route 518, forcing a road closure and spilling liquid asphalt near the same spot where another tanker spilled the same material less than a month ago.

Ohio State Highway Patrol Trooper Eric Carroll said the southbound tanker, owned by August Transport, Leetsdale, Pa., and driven by Jeffery L. Corbin, 53, Salineville, went off the right edge of the roadway and over an embankment before striking a fence and a utility pole. Corbin was cited for failure to control and received minor injuries from the crash but refused treatment at the scene.

Only about 50 gallons of liquid asphalt spilled from the tanker, and contamination caused by the material is limited to the soil it touches.

"They're just going to dig it all up, all the soil that was contaminated," Carroll explained. "We didn't see that it was spilled until we began to take the truck out of there."

The Highway Patrol received a call about the accident at 12:52 p.m., and Carroll was on the scene until about 9:30 p.m. He said the bulk of the time was spent trying to remove the truck from the embankment and get it back on the roadway.

Ed Geary's Auto Service, Leetonia, provided towing for the overturned tanker using cables and another large truck.

A similar incident occurred on Oct. 22, when Timothy Jett, 56, Akron, turned a tanker carrying 6,300 gallons of hot asphalt south from state Route 518 onto state Route 164 and the tanker overturned onto the driver's side, spilling enough material to necessitate the removal of 30 tons of contaminated soil.

mschomer@mojonews.com