A semi-truck carrying liquid fertilizer crashed and blocked Highway 395 north of Pasco for about four hours Thursday.
The rollover accident occurred at 8:30 a.m. as Trevor H. Richardson, 30, of West Richland, was southbound and attempted to turn onto Phend Road, the Washington State Patrol said.
The contents of the truck apparently started sloshing, the truck went up on two wheels and then overturned, troopers said. No one was hurt.
The highway was initially blocked about 11 miles north of Pasco, and motorists were forced to use the shoulder to get around the wreck, the state Department of Transportation said. One lane was reopened after about two hours.
Crews had to pump the liquid fertilizer out of the overturned truck into another truck. They also spread a kitty litter-type material on the ground to soak up some of the liquid that spilled onto the road.
The McGregor truck has a capacity of about 1,000 gallons, but it was not known how much liquid was in the tanker. Richardson was cited for driving too fast for conditions, troopers said.
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Unsafe passing is to blame for an early morning Wednesday crash about six miles north of Pasco that sent two Othello women to the hospital, the Washington State Patrol reported.
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