Tanker carrying 8,000 gallons of ethanol overturns in Rowan Co.

ROWAN COUNTY, N.C. — A tanker tractor-trailer carrying 8,000 gallons of ethanol overturned Tuesday morning in Rowan County, near the Davidson County line.

[ [IMAGES: Tanker crashes in Rowan County, spills ethanol] ]

The Highway Patrol was called around 8 a.m. to the crash on Bringle Ferry Road at Richfield Road.

Officials said about 3,000 to 4,000 gallons of the highly flammable liquid spilled out onto Bringle Ferry Road. It has forced crews to shut down all lanes for an extended period of time while they clean up the area.

Officials said Bringle Ferry Road should be reopened at 5 p.m.

Francis Morgan said he can't go home because the tanker flipped 1,500 feet from her driveway.

"I'm just trying to get home,” Morgan said. “It's just a terrible situation. It's pitiful."

Morgan said six other families, two of them on disability, live near the highly flammable spill.

"This one is fortunately contained right at the accident site and we're monitoring it closely,” said Frank Thomason, of the Rowan Emergency Services.

David Griggs, 63, the driver of the tanker, was hurt in the crash and taken to the hospital, but he is expected to recover, authorities said.

Griggs is expected to face charges in the crash, but it's not clear what kind of charges.

Hazmat crews working to clear out the ethanol said the cleanup could last through the night and possibly through Wednesday.

HAZMAT crews from as far as Charlotte rushed to stop the dangerous spill from running onto neighbors' property.

"He said that we didn't have to worry about it getting to our property, but you wonder, you know,” Morgan said. "It's awful. I do not know why these truck drivers have so many accidents. It's just a terrible situation."

Just two years ago, another driver hauling ethanol from a nearby plant crashed.

In both cases, the drivers ran off the road, spilling thousands of gallons of ethanol.

Emergency Management said the difference in 2015 was the leak happened dangerously close to an underground water well. Neighbors were forced to live off bottled water, while crews tested the safety of the water.

Morgan said someone needs to be held responsible since this is the second time in two years they have been threatened with what she calls an environmental disaster.

"Something needs to be done,” Morgan said. "They need to screen the drivers more carefully and make sure they have good records."

While worried neighbors want to move back into their homes, emergency management says it's too early to know when they will reopen the road. They said it could be as late as Tuesday night or Wednesday.

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