Truck Carrying Liquid Nitrogen Overturns On Highway 99, Snarling Rush Hour Traffic
ELK GROVE (CBS13) — An overturned big rig filled with liquid nitrogen snarled traffic for hours on a busy stretch of Highway 99.
The truck turned over just before 1 p.m., carrying 6,000 gallons of liquid nitrogen. Firefighters say the driver was turning from Sheldon Road when his load tipped over on its side.
Environmental specialists came out and told firefighters the liquid nitrogen was safe, since nitrogen makes up most of our atmosphere. That meant the best option was releasing it into the air.
"It's the same as naturally existing nitrogen," said Cosumnes deputy fire chief Mike McLaughlin. "It's just being released back into, you know, its normal atmospheric pressure into the environment."
But releasing it took several hours and forced crews to keep the off-ramp on Highway 99 shut down near Sheldon Road.
The truck was finally cleared off around 9 p.m.