Officials have ordered nearby residents to shelter in place while they burn off hazardous materials following an early morning crash and hazmat incident on-95 Northbound at 141.
NEW CASTLE (DE) BY DIGITAL STAFF: The Delaware Department of Transportation is reporting that all lanes on I-95 including all ramps are now open. The announcement came via email from DELDOT just before 4:00 p.m. “I-95 Northbound/Southbound is now OPEN to traffic., Said Charles McLeod, a DELDOT spokesman. “The accident has been cleared, all ramps are open.”
Earlier today, around 1:00 p.m., The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control issued a shelter-in-place directive this afternoon for a half-mile radius around the crash scene of this morning’s accident on Interstate-95 involving a trailer load of organic peroxide, which is considered a hazardous material.
The order for the crash scene applied to the area around the intersection of I-95 and Airport Road.
DNREC Emergency Response and Prevention Section began burning off the peroxide at the scene shortly after 1 p.m. so that it posed no further threat to public health or the environment.
I-95 remained closed in both directions while the DNREC Emergency Response and Prevention section worked with local agencies from New Castle County to clear the scene once the peroxide was burned off.
“Before the decision was made to thermally destroy the peroxide, DNREC Emergency Response and Prevention section had worked earlier with the local agencies, including the New Castle County fire service and decontamination unit ,to regain temperature control of the organic peroxide from this morning’s traffic accident that involved a pickup truck pulling the trailer bearing the peroxide colliding with a disabled vehicle on the roadway.,” said a DNREC spokesperson.
What is an organic peroxide: Organic peroxides are organic compounds containing the peroxide functional group.
Organic peroxides are organic compounds containing the peroxide functional group. If the R′ is hydrogen, the compounds are called organic hydroperoxides. Peresters are the peroxy analog of esters and have general structure RCOOR. The O−O bond of peroxides easily breaks, producing free radicals of the form RO.
Most organic peroxides are lighter than water and can burn on top of liquid surfaces. Any fire will probably resemble a gasoline fire, and could be explosive and intense. Organic peroxides decompose to form gases including hydrocarbons and some alcohols.
Meanwhile, the driver of the pickup truck is being treated for non-life-threatening injuries. No other injuries were reported.
Just before 3:00 p.m. the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) announced that I-95 Southbound is OPEN to traffic, while I-95 Northbound remains CLOSED near the Route 141/Airport Road Exit.
I-95 Southbound in DE is now open. https://t.co/9urCpURjZz
— Delaware Memorial Bridge (@demembridge) June 8, 2021
