UPDATE: Thursday, June 12, 2014 6:26 a.m.
Roanoke County Police and Virginia Department of Transportation officials say the road reopened around 12:30 a.m. today. Most of the around 20 homes evacuated have been allowed to return to their homes. The Virginia Department of Environmental Equality (DEQ) will monitor the impact on the environment, including testing nearby wells. Police say the tractor and trailer have been cleared from the scene and they will not need to close Rt. 116 again today.
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UPDATE: Wednesday, June 11, 2014 5:20 p.m.
From Roanoke County Fire and Rescue: Evacuations of nearly 20 homes in the area of a tanker crash filled leaking embalming fluid will remain in place at least through the evening while crews continue to work on recovering the tanker and mitigating the fluid spill. The evacuations are for residents who live along the roadway between the 4200 block of Jae Valley Road down to Sun Valley Drive, and including any homes on side streets off of Jae Valley Road within this same stretch of roadway.
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UPDATE: Wednesday, June 12, 2014 11:23 a.m.
Roanoke County officials, along with officials from VDEM, the Roanoke Valley HazMat Team, and W.E.L. Inc are now working on a plan to off-load the remaining fluid from the crashed tanker onto a tanker that has been brought in. At that point, the wrecker will be able to recover the wrecked tanker in a more safe manner with less run off. At that point crews will work to contain, clean-up and mitigate the fluid that spilled.
Once the wrecker and tankers have left the scene, officers believe they will be able to allow residents only to return to their homes, however the same section of the road will remain closed to thru traffic until the spill site has been cleaned up, which will likely be tomorrow.
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Original Post: Wednesday, June 12, 2014 11:05 a.m.
An overturned tractor trailer is blocking Jae Valley Road, VA Route 116, in the Windy Gap area in southeast Roanoke County. County Fire and Rescue officials say the truck is filled with 8,000 gallons of embalming fluid and is believed to be leaking. State and local Haz Mat teams are working with Roanoke County Fire and Rescue crews to mitigate the effects of any leakage. Police have evacuated about 20 homes in the immediate area, and they expect the roadway to be closed for most of the day.
