Downtown Disaster: Tanker Truck overturns in Kennett causing chemical spill

At approximately 9:26 a.m., today, a tanker truck carrying approximately 3,500 gallons of liquid fertilizer overturned on First Street after the driver lost control due to a broken axle.

Staff photo by George Anderson

Daily Dunklin Democrat

Traffic was diverted around the downtown square in Kennett for more than four hours Monday as crews worked to clean up after a tanker truck overturned on First Street after a rear axle broke.

At 9:26 a.m., authorities responded to the call of the turnover near the square on First Street.

After being assisted from his vehicle, the driver of the truck, Tim Moore of Pascola, Mo., told authorities he felt the rear axle give out, and the next thing he knew he was on his side.

Paul Vandeventer of the Kennett Police Department was the first officer on the scene and said Moore refused treatment for a sore arm, saying he was OK.

The tanker, which is the property of Sonny Jackson Farms, contained 3,500 gallons of a liquid fertilizer, some of which spilled onto the roadway.

As crews began working to clean up the site after the accident, authorities roped off a large section of the scene and asked businesses in the area to temporarily close and evacuate because of hazardous material concerns.

After workers were allowed back in the buildings around 11:20 a.m., Keith Riggs of the Kennett Fire Department said the fertilizer was a mixture of ammonium nitrate and urea, which is not hazardous.

Once the chemical was declared nonhazardous, crews began working to upright the truck. The contents left in the overturned truck's tank were pumped into an empty tanker brought to the scene.

As the last of the fertilizer was being pumped out, the Kennett Fire Department made cuts along the rear axle, enabling McMahon's Auto & Diesel to pull the axle off with a large tow truck.

About 2 p.m., McMahon crews hooked two large tow trucks to the tanker and pulled it upright, to the applause of the gathered crowd.

Vandeventer said the accident appeared to be the fault of a vehicle malfunction and no citations were issued.

Randy Carter, of the Kennett Street Department, said his crews, along with the Kennett Fire Department and Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT), worked to clean up the spills and debris until 5:58 p.m.

Carter said the crews used the Street Departments cones and barriers to control traffic and the clean up was done was under the guidance of MoDOT.