A chemical spill near Gunn, AB. forced the closure of Hwy 43 for several hours Tuesday while crews cleaned up the mess.
Stony Plain RCMP asked drivers to stay away from the junction of Hwy 43 and Hwy 37 after a tanker truck overturned early Tuesday morning.
Gunn is located northwest of Edmonton.
A spokesperson for Alberta Environment said the tanker was hauling 30,000 tonnes of a 35% hydrochloride solution - an amount ESRD later said was approximately 30,000 litres. That amount was later adjusted to about 28,000 litres.
Officials said about 300 litres of product was released into the ditch, officials said about 23,000 litres had been offloaded by HAZMAT crews on the scene dealing with the spill.
Officials said no bodies of water were affected, but the solution could be leaking into meltwater in the ditch, which could produce a vapour cloud – which officials said could mean continued highway closures.
ESRD said soda ash to neutralize the product was on the way to the scene, as was an ESRD regional responder to assess the impact of the incident.
Alberta Environment crews will be monitoring the cleanup and remediation.
