Abandoned tanker in Martinez with unknown substance triggers hazmat response

Contra Costa Fire hazardous materials crews in Martinez have determined the unknown substance in an abandoned tanker trailer that shut down Pacheco Blvd. Tuesday morning was not hazardous, according to fire officials.

Contra Costa Fire Chris Toler told CBS News Bay Area that three abandoned trailers were identified on the 3000 block of Pacheco Blvd. last week. While two of the tankers were removed by tow truck company on Friday, the third remaining tanker was set for removal Tuesday. 

Tuesday morning, the tow truck company that was going to move the tanker called the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office and informed authorities they had identified some sort of unknown substance present in the tanker and could not remove it.

At 9:30 a.m., the sheriff called Contra Costa Fire, who responded with fire and hazmat crews to the scene. 

Contra Costa Fire hazmat crews formulated a plan to identify the substance contained in the abandoned tanker to determine if it can be moved safely or if the substance needed to be removed first. Neighbors in the area were asked to shelter in place during the incident.

"There was quite a bit of product in that container," said Toler Tuesday morning. "We don't know what the product is. We don't have any identifiers on the actual container. So from this point, we have to assume -- for safety reasons -- that it is hazardous."  

Authorities asked people to avoid the 3000 block of Pacheco Blvd. which was closed to all traffic between Howe Rd. and Morello Ave. for hours. Contra Costa Health units are also on scene.

Businesses all along the busy Pacheco Blvd. corridor were impacted by the closure.

However, hazmat crews never informed the businesses. At Tacos Don Chai, owner Bryan Gonzalez couldn't understand why he had so few customers on a usually busy Taco Tuesday.

"No, nobody knew why," he said. "Nobody knew why. And then, little by little, we put the pieces together from different things that people were telling us."

As the hazmat team's investigation continued for hours, most of the businesses and their employees simply gave up. That included Rodrigo Cisneros at the Recycling Zone, where they collected no aluminum cans all day because of the rust bucket parked outside.

"All these businesses have been closed since 10 this morning. So no business at all!" he said. "Because of one guy dropping off a trailer with chemical in it. They don't know what it is. It's just a liquid substance of some kind. That's it."  

The rusty tanker had no license plate and all identifying markings had been removed.

"It's an abandoned trailer that's got something in it," said Cisneros. "And it's old, so you can't get rid of it. Nobody's gonna take it like that. So he knew what he was doing."

At Mi Casita restaurant, the three owners sat in an empty dining room. The business has only been open since January, so a day with no customers was the last thing they needed.

"People were calling, asking us how can they come in?" said co-owner Alexandra Romero.  "I said, well, the only way would be park on the street, who knows where?  But, no. Nobody was able to come in."  

"So we had to close. Thank you!" she added sarcastically.

At 1:22 p.m., Contra Costa Fire confirmed that hazmat crews were able to extract a sample of fluid from inside the container. Officials said preliminary tests indicate the fluid was not hazardous. It was later determined to be some sort of vegetable-based oil.

By around 3 p.m., officials reopened the roadway.

Even after Pacheco was cleared, S.P. Automotive employee Don Slaney was still angry.

"Nowadays, people will dump everything out everywhere, because they don't want to spend any money. They don't care any more!" he said.  "It's all paid cash and they're charging people to haul it to the dump or haul it to a wrecking yard, and they dump it out on the road."

Leaving others, like Gonzalez at Tacos Don Chai, to deal with the mess.

"Thanks. Thanks a lot," he said. "Because not only did he affect my business, he affected the businesses around here. It was just, overall, a bad day for all the businesses in this area."

Some of the neighbors heard that the owner of the abandoned trailer had been identified, but those reports have not been confirmed. CBS News Bay Area's requests for an update from the Contra Costa Sheriff's Office went unanswered.

In:
• Contra Costa County
• Martinez