Overturned Tanker Affects Traffic in T-Town, Things Back to Normal Today

An overturned tanker disrupted travel through Teutopolis Wednesday.

Chad Mette of the Teutopolis Fire Protection District said a semi pulling a tanker trailer overturned near Pearl and Elm near the Little Buckaroo Saddle Club grounds. The rig ended up in a ditch. Mette said there was fuel leakage from the tanker.

Mette said another unit was brought from Carmi to offload the fuel in the tanker, allowing the tanker to be righted and the scene cleared. The truck was put back on its wheels, and left the scene. 

Pearl Street in the area of the incident was reopened for a time Wednesday afternoon, but the EPA requested the road be closed again shortly before 4pm as they continued work to recover leaked fuel from the ditch. The work included removing the dirt containing the spilled fuel from the ditch. The roadway was closed from the scene south to Illinois Route 33.

No traffic had been permitted through the area on Pearl Street, which becomes the Teutopolis/Elliotstown Road south of town, from the time of the incident until early Wednesday afternoon. The roadway was shut down from the four-way stop on Pearl at Main Street, south to 1400th Avenue. 

The driver of the truck was treated at the scene for injuries.

(TEUTOPOLIS FIREFIGHTERS WERE ON STANDBY WHEN AMEREN CREWS BEGAN MAKING REPAIRS TO GET ELECTRICAL SERVICE RESTORED IN THE SOUTHEAST PART OF TEUTOPOLIS)

The southeast end of Teutopolis was without electricity into early Wednesday afternoon. The power was shut off during the offloading of the fuel. Holes had to be drilled into the tanker to assist with emptying the fuel and there were concerns that sparks could result from the drilling.