Chemical spill creates havoc on I-15

A chemical spill shut down three of the four lanes on Interstate 15 near Primm for hours Friday morning, causing traffic to back up for miles in both directions.

The traffic jams lasted well into the evening as California Highway Patrol officials worked to clean up the ferric chloride solution that leaked when a tractor-trailer overturned just south of the state line.

The situation delayed motorists for hours.

At South Point, one of the first properties available to tourists as they enter Las Vegas from Southern California, staff were working to appease them. By 5:30 p.m., guests still hadn't checked into roughly 500 rooms - twice as many rooms as would be outstanding on a normal Friday night.

"The people who are showing up are not too happy," said Tom Mikovits, director of marketing for the casino-hotel.

He quipped: "We're trying to get them to our happy hour as soon as possible."

But Californians' pain was others' gain. The bottleneck was just south of Primm Valley Casino Resorts' three properties, which saw an increase in visitors looking to wait out the traffic, Assistant General Manager Stuart Richey said.

"As long as it's not for a negative reason, we do like when there's a bottleneck and people have a reason to come visit our resorts," he said.

Authorities had to close all lanes after a truck carrying 4,100 gallons of ferric chloride solution collided with a sedan in the northbound lanes about 6:30 a.m., California Highway Patrol officer Adam Croxton said.

The crash caused the driver of the tractor-trailer to lose control. The vehicle overturned into the median, spilling more than 3,000 gallons of the substance onto the desert before authorities plugged the hole about 11 a.m.

Nobody was injured in the incident, and police were working to find who was at fault, Croxton said. The driver of the truck, based in Mojave, Calif., was allowed to transport the substance.

Ferric chloride can burn the eyes and skin and irritate the respiratory tract if inhaled, according to Brian Hoeft, director of the Freeway and Arterial System of Transportation. It can be used in sewage treatment, drinking water production and in the etching of copper-based metals.

One northbound lane reopened about 10 a.m., but both southbound lanes remained closed until about 12:30 p.m., when health officials deemed the spill posed no threat to passing motorists, Hoeft said.

By 5 p.m., however, traffic heading to Las Vegas remained heavy: Croxton said the backup was 16 miles long.

"It couldn't have happened on a worse day ... except for maybe on a three-day weekend," he said.

To avoid the traffic, motorists were encouraged to use U.S. Highway 95 to Searchlight, then take Nipton Road west to I-15.

That path took them through the lonely town of Nipton, Calif., where business was exploding at the trading post.

"They're cleaning the store out," store clerk Ellis Handley said of the travelers.

On a normal day, the store would see about 150 customers for its snacks and drinks. They had a more than 2,600 percent increase in customers by Friday evening, prompting the store to double its staff - to two.

As the cars continued to stop, Handley had a message on behalf of his staff:

"Stay away, we're tired of working!"

Review-Journal reporter Adrienne Packer contributed to this report. Contact reporter Brian Haynes at bhaynes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0281. Contact reporter Lawrence Mower at lmower@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0440.