How in the world do you clean up gallons of ammonia? Well, you call a hazmat crew in. This recently happened in Virginia when a tanker truck wrecked and spilled ammonia everywhere. The highway was closed for hours. 

Tanker truck spills ammonia on Virginia highway 

It felt like a normal day for a truck driver in Augusta County, Virginia until disaster struck. The driver of the tanker truck that was carrying ammonia had some sort of medical emergency near mile marker 212. 

Virginia State Police officers shared that the truck was on Interstate 81 when it sideswiped another vehicle before crashing into the median around 10 AM. The trucker was taken to a local hospital but the driver of the vehicle that was sideswiped didn’t have any injuries. 

According to Yahoo, the wreck occurred between Exit 205 and 213 and hazmat crews quickly arrived on the scene to clean up gallons of ammonia and diesel fuel. All north and southbound lanes were closed for hours. 

Ammonia is corrosive and toxic. Depending on its concentration, how you come into contact with it, and the length of exposure may lead to various side effects. 

For example, it can burn your skin, eyes, nose, mouth, and throat while causing lung damage. It may cause blindness, burn, and even cause frostbite. 

Plus, ammonia can damage cars but degrade tires and reduce their grip. It can strip the paint off a car and damage glass. It’s not good for the environment either. It’s unclear how many cars drove through the spilled ammonia before the interstate was closed.