VAIL, Colo. — A pickup truck driver was cited Friday morning after a 55-gallon drum containing hazardous materials fell off his work truck on Interstate 70 near Vail.
According to the Colorado Department of Transportation, the spill affected the right eastbound lane of I-70 at mile marker 173 near the Sandstone underpass. The eastbound lanes reopened around 12:30 p.m.
The 55-gallon drum full of a resin used in concrete construction fell off a truck around 8:30 a.m. The substance has a strong smell and vehicles passing in the westbound lanes should keep their windows closed, the department said.
The town of Vail said shortly after emergency responders arrived, the company responsible for the drum, Denver-based ABCO Contracting, returned. The driver told crews the drum had been strapped to a flatbed trailer that was being towed behind the pickup truck, but that it had been loaded when there was snow on the bed, which later melted.
The drum fell off the trailer, which led to the closure of the eastbound lanes for about four hours while the chemical was cleaned up.
The town of Vail said the driver of the truck was cited for spilling the load on the highway and released.
Colorado State Patrol, the Colorado Department of Transportation, Eagle River Fire, Eagle County Paramedics, and Mountain Recovery (towing) worked the scene.
No evacuations have been ordered.
