The leak of a highly-flammable chemical from a plant next to the Delaware Memorial Bridge forced a shutdown of the dual-span suspension bridge on Sunday creating a traffic nightmare during the travel rush home from the Thanksgiving holiday.
The complete shutdown happened around 5 p.m. Sunday after ethylene oxide began leaking from the Corda Atlas Point chemical plant on the Delaware side of the bridge’s span. The plant is closest to the northbound span which carries cars into New Jersey.
The Delaware River and Bay Authority said plant staff requested the bridge closure as a precaution.
Ethylene oxide is a highly-flammable and acute exposure can cause lung damage and nausea, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. It is typically used as an ingredient to make other chemicals and can have a sweet smelling odor.
A firefighter at the hazmat scene told NBC10 that measuring equipment showed a high risk of explosion and thus warranted the highway shut down.
George Greenley, spokesman for Holloway Terrace Fire Company, told the Associated Press that if the gas cloud “would have had an ignition source it could have been catastrophic.”
Greenley says fire officials are waiting for pressure to dissipate in the pipes at the plant before reopening the bridge. He said the chemical is dissipating fairly quickly from the pipes and estimates the bridge could reopen in the next few hours.
He says the cloud of chemical gas was “of such magnitude that it easily could have” reached the bridge.
The bridge’s sudden closure during the final hours of the Thanksgiving travel rush resulted in a traffic nightmare in Delaware and New Jersey — the two states the bridge connects.
An average of 80,000 vehicles cross the span which connects the New Jersey Turnpike and I-295 in New Jersey to I-95 in northern Delaware.
Both Spans of @demembridge closed due to chemical gas leak at a plant near the base of the #NJSpan. Traffic diverted to other crossings north. jes @DelawareDOT@DRPA_PAandNJ@NJDOT_info@NJTurnpike
— Del Memorial Bridge (@demembridge) November 25, 2018
Bridge officials described the roads leading to the spans as a “parking lot.”
The New Jersey Turnpike Authority reported a backup of at least 2.5 miles in the southbound lanes headed for the bridge. Traffic is being detoured off the turnpike at Exit 2 and onto U.S. 322.
Bridge officials did not have a timeline for when the dual-span bridge might reopen.
Drivers are encouraged to avoid the bridge.
Travelers heading to New York and points north can continue on I-95 through Philadelphia and cross into New Jersey via the new interchange in Bucks County.
Drivers heading south on I-295 and the New Jersey Turnpike should cross over into Pennsylvania via the Commodore Barry Bridge and pick up I-95 in Chester, Pennsylvania.
Source : Nbcnewyork
