CASEYVILLE, Ill. – Officials are looking for answers as to why a toxic tanker truck is being stored in St. Clair County after a nearly catastrophic crash.
The wreckage is currently behind secure fencing on the corner of U.S. Highway 157 and Bunkum Road in Caseyville.
The truck is reportedly still full of phosphorus trichloride—30,000 gallons of it, to be exact. The industrial chemical is used in products like pesticides and plasticizers.
“They should have taken that somewhere away from any individuals,” Davida McKinney, a nearby worker, said.
There are 70,000 residents within the range of the tank, according to Mark Kern, St. Clair County board chairman.
“We’re looking at getting the trailer removed from the area as fast as we can,” Caseyville City Attorney Doug Stewart said. He and Kern have been working on solutions.
The truck crashed more than an hour south of Caseyville, on the Missouri side of St. Genevieve County. It was reportedly almost to its destination in Missouri.
Yet after the crash, towing and recovery experts identified the Caseyville location as the best storage option.
“We weren’t any part of this transaction and we’re very fearful that this chemical could cause injury to our residents should there be a catastrophe,” Kern said.
In a visit FOX 2 took to the site, the tank could be seen, crumpled. A yellow frame, which added an extra layer of protection, may have made a difference.
The tank even appears punctured in one spot, but Stewart said they’ve learned the chemical is protected inside an inner shell that’s not visible.
“The liquid in the tank is contained. It is not leaking. To the extent that a leak is developed, we do have evacuation plans that have been developed,” he said.
Caseyville and St. Clair County residents will be notified on the code red system and will need to sign up if they don’t have an account already. Warning sirens will also go off.
The company involved has reportedly asked to do a pressure test to look for possible weak spots. St. Clair County said not to do that here.
“It’s not safe for the people around us and we don’t want that pressure test here,” Kern said.
Stewarrt added that if anything goes wrong during a pressure test, it would create an environmental situation.
FOX 2 will stay on top of efforts to move the tanker to a more safe and rural location.