Spill closes Vidor intersection during lunch hour

Tommy Mann, Jr.
The Orange Leader

VIDOR June 03, 2008 01:11 pm

— An unidentified vehicle which leaked hydraulic fluid across the Main Street intersection Monday morning turned lunchtime into a headache for many motorists in this Orange County community.
At approximately 10:45 a.m., the Vidor Police Department received calls of what was originally believed to be a fuel spill at the intersection of North Main Street and the feeder road at the Interstate 10 overpass.
According to Capt. Jerry Aldridge of Orange County Emergency Services District 1, the spill was not fuel as originally believed, but was instead determined to be hydraulic fluid.
“A vehicle left the truck stop in Rose City and traveled down the service road into Vidor spilling hydraulic fluid along the way,” he said. “We estimate it was between 100 to 150 gallons of hydraulic fluid. It wasn’t until the vehicle apparently started slowing down as it approached the Main Street intersection where a large amount of fluid was.”
Aldridge said the spill forced Orange County ESD 1 to close both north and southbound travel through the Main Street intersection at the Interstate, as well as the eastbound service road from South Archie Street to Main Street.
Traffic was re-routed to the Church Street turnaround and forced to use South Archie to reach South Main destinations, whereas motorists attempting to reach north Vidor were forced to use alternate roadways such as West Railroad or FM 1132.
“We had to close down lanes in these directions so we could sand down the road,” Aldridge said. “We tried to do everything as quickly and efficiently as possible because we know people were at lunch.”
Along with the police and ESD 1, officials from the Vidor Emergency Management and Orange County Emergency Management offices were on scene also. The intersection reopened at 1:20 p.m.

Reach this reporter at 409-883-3571, Ext. 2619 or tmann@orangeleader.com