This blog presents Metropolitan Engineering Consulting & Forensics (MEC&F) claim management and claim investigation analyses of some of the typical claims we handle
Homes and businesses served by the Shenango Water
Treatment Plant are being asked to conserve water until further notice
due to a spill in the area. Hazmat crews have been on the scene of
a crude oil spill reported Friday morning along the Shenango River
near North River Road in Sharon, Pennsylvania.
Although
authorities say the spill has been contained, Jim Willard, Western Area
Manager for Aqua of Pennsylvania tells 21 News that operations a the
Shenango Water plant have been shut down until investigators give them
the "all-clear" allowing them to resume water intake.
Until then, Aqua customers in the area are being asked to conserve. "Because
we are not producing and treating water we are riding on the storage
volume in our tanks right now. That means we need to conserve that water
to get us through this time period before we can bring the intakes back
online," says Willard.
The affected service area is listed below:
Mercer County: City of Farrell, City of Hermitage, City of Sharon, Coolspring Township, E. Lackawannock
Township, Jackson Township, Jefferson Township, Lackawannock
Township, Mercer Borough, Shenango Township, West Middlesex Borough,
Wheatland Borough, Wilmington Township, and Sharpsville Borough.
Lawrence County: New Wilmington Borough, Pulaski Township, Wilmington Township.
Trumbull County: Brookfield Township, Hubbard Township, City of Hubbard. The
source of the spill is believed to be from an oil well across the state
line along Orangeville and Thompson Sharpsville Roads in Brookfield.
The oil made its way into a tributary of the Shenango River.
The Ohio EPA says it is coordinating hazmat efforts in Trumbull County.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Health is monitoring cleanup efforts at the Shenango River.
The Brookfield
Fire Department, Hermitage Fire Department, Sharon and Transfer Fire
Department, as well as state authorities, are investigating the
situation.
Authorities estimate the oil had been leaking for about 24 hours. Approximately 500 gallons had escaped from the tank.
According to a statement from Congressman Tim Ryan, the U.S. EPA informed his office that the spill entailed 1,700 gallons.
The owner of the well is Big Sky Energy out of New Concord, Ohio. The president of that company, Robert Barr, tells 21 News the bottom of the tank had rusted out, leading to the leak.
He says his company will pay for clean-up costs he estimates to reach around $40,000.
Aqua Pennsylvania (Aqua) is asking its customers in the Shenango Valley area and a small portion of Trumbull County, Ohio to conserve water following a crude oil spill that caused Aqua to shut down the raw-water intake at its water treatment plant as a precaution to protect its drinking water supply.
At
the request of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
(DEP), Aqua is asking its customers in the Shenango Valley area to
conserve water until further notice. This is necessary because, as a
result of the spill, the plant is no longer drawing in new water.
Aqua is asking its customers to use water for essential purposes only.
Essential uses include water needed for eating and drinking.
Non-essential uses include watering lawns, excessive showering, laundering and washing cars. At about 8 a.m. today, Aqua was notified by the Mercer County Emergency Management Agency of a crude oil spill on a tributary that feeds the Shenango River — the water source for Aqua’s Shenango water treatment plant. Upon notification, Aqua implemented its standard operating procedures (SOP) for such an emergency by shutting down the Shenango plant to assess the situation. Aqua increased monitoring of the raw water at the plant intake and upstream of the plant. Booms have been placed around the raw water intake to protect it from the spill. Staff is also closely monitoring its distribution storage and will continue this and its other procedures throughout the event. The affected service area is listed below. Mercer County: City of Farrell, City of Hermitage, City of Sharon, Coolspring Township, E. Lackawannock Township, Jackson Township, Jefferson Township, Lackawannock Township, Mercer Borough, Shenango Township, West Middlesex Borough, Wheatland Borough,
//--------------///
1,700 gallon oil spill from a tank of Big Sky Energy out of New Concord, Ohio, brings call for Shenango Valley water conservation
Posted:
July 24, 2015
BROOKFIELD TOWNSHIP, Ohio -
Homes and businesses served by the Shenango Water
Treatment Plant are being asked to conserve water until further notice
due to a spill in the area. Hazmat crews have been on the scene of
a crude oil spill reported Friday morning along the Shenango River
near North River Road in Sharon, Pennsylvania.
Although
authorities say the spill has been contained, Jim Willard, Western Area
Manager for Aqua of Pennsylvania tells 21 News that operations a the
Shenango Water plant have been shut down until investigators give them
the "all-clear" allowing them to resume water intake.
Until then, Aqua customers in the area are being asked to conserve. "Because
we are not producing and treating water we are riding on the storage
volume in our tanks right now. That means we need to conserve that water
to get us through this time period before we can bring the intakes back
online," says Willard.
The affected service area is listed below:
Mercer County: City of Farrell, City of Hermitage, City of Sharon, Coolspring Township, E. Lackawannock
Township, Jackson Township, Jefferson Township, Lackawannock
Township, Mercer Borough, Shenango Township, West Middlesex Borough,
Wheatland Borough, Wilmington Township, and Sharpsville Borough.
Lawrence County: New Wilmington Borough, Pulaski Township, Wilmington Township.
Trumbull County: Brookfield Township, Hubbard Township, City of Hubbard. The
source of the spill is believed to be from an oil well across the state
line along Orangeville and Thompson Sharpsville Roads in Brookfield.
The oil made its way into a tributary of the Shenango River.
The Ohio EPA says it is coordinating hazmat efforts in Trumbull County.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Health is monitoring cleanup efforts at the Shenango River.
The Brookfield
Fire Department, Hermitage Fire Department, Sharon and Transfer Fire
Department, as well as state authorities, are investigating the
situation.
Authorities estimate the oil had been leaking for about 24 hours. Approximately 500 gallons had escaped from the tank.
According to a statement from Congressman Tim Ryan, the U.S. EPA informed his office that the spill entailed 1,700 gallons.
The owner of the well is Big Sky Energy out of New Concord, Ohio. The president of that company, Robert Barr, tells 21 News the bottom of the tank had rusted out, leading to the leak.
He says his company will pay for clean-up costs he estimates to reach around $40,000.
A series of events stemming from an "improperly abandoned
natural gas line" as many as 30 years ago led to the explosion of an
Upper Arlington house last March, according to the Public Utilities
Commission of Ohio.
The PUCO's investigative report released today, July 24, said a gas
line to the house at 3418 Sunningdale Way was not properly sealed and
cut off from the main line by Columbia Gas of Ohio when it was replaced
due to a corrosive leak sometime between 1985 and 1997.
The March 21 explosion that reduced the house to rubble, left seven
others uninhabitable and damaged 18 others throughout the neighborhood
occurred after a Columbus Water Department worker responded to a call
for service at the address, confused the gas line for a water valve and
then failed to fully close the line.
Columbia Gas of Ohio spokesman Dave Rau said July 24 the PUCO report was not intended to find fault in the incident.
He said there were a "very unique set of circumstances" that led to the explosion that were "very unlikely to occur again."
"Prior to 2008, Columbia Gas was not allowed to install or repair
service lines," Rau said. "That was the responsibility of the customer.
"The customer would've called a plumber, and the plumber would've
replaced the service line. Then the plumber was responsible to call
Columbia Gas to have that new service line connected to our main."
Rau said Columbia Gas had no record of the newer gas line to the
house, and noted the shutoff valve to the original, abandoned service
line got mislabeled as a water line.
"As the report mentions, someone partially opened that valve on the
original service line and that was the source of the gas that eventually
went got into the house and caused the explosion," he said.
Rau said his company was "very thankful" no one was hurt from the blast. "We will certainly work with the PUCO to address any concerns they have," Rau said.
Matthew Schilling, a PUCO spokesman, said the PUCO will hold an enforcement proceeding in the matter.
During those proceedings, Columbia Gas and other parties will be
permitted to provide evidence and testimony before the PUCO ultimately
determines if "corrective actions or monetary fines" should be imposed,
Schilling said.
//----------------///
Explosion investigation could take months
Six houses have been declared unsafe for occupancy in the Sunningdale Way neighborhood where a seventh house was leveled by a weekend explosion. Upper Arlington Fire Chief Jeff Young said investigations into the explosion could take months to conclude.
Investigators from both Columbia Gas of Ohio and the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio
continue to look into how a 2,224-square-foot house at 3418 Sunningdale
Way exploded Saturday, March 21. Owners Hidefumi and Mariko Ishida
reportedly were in Japan at the time of the incident and had not
returned as of press time Tuesday.
Upper Arlington Police Chief Brian Quinn said his office currently doesn't suspect foul play in the explosion.
"At this point in time, we have no reason to believe it was an
arson," Quinn said. "We have no reason to believe there was any criminal
intent."
Young said firefighters and medics responded to the scene within
approximately five minutes of it being reported at 2:48 p.m. March 21.
He said Tuesday, March 24, that his division is working under the
assumption that a leak and buildup of natural gas caused the blast
because a mailman on his route reportedly smelled gas in the area and a
Columbia Gas employee was responding to a reported gas leak at the time
of the blast.
Upper Arlington city officials released 911 calls from the incident
Tuesday. They support Young's assertions that the Upper Arlington Fire
Division did not receive reports of a possible gas leak prior to the
explosion.
According to a timeline of events released by the city Tuesday
afternoon, a neighbor called the police department's nonemergency number
at 12:46 p.m. March 21 to say a security alarm might go off because he
intended to enter the property at the request of a Columbia Gas
representative who was checking reports of a gas leak.
After that, Young said, the first call the fire department received was a report of the explosion at 2:48 p.m.
In the hours after the blast, bricks, shattered glass and other
debris littered Sunningdale Way. No one was seriously hurt, which Young
and area residents said was a miracle.
"To me, quite honestly, it's amazing," Young said hours after the
blast. "A warm spring day with a volume of people out enjoying the day
-- that someone was not hurt was, quite honestly, amazing."
Numerous homes on Sunningdale experienced structural damage and homes
on nearby streets also had windows broken out and owners reported
drywall cracking and other damage.
"I was laying down here on the couch and when it happened, it blew me
three feet off the couch," said Mark Fisanick, whose home at 3430
Inverness Way is about one-tenth of a mile from the house that was
destroyed. "It was like a grenade went off."
Some other neighbors whose homes were significantly damaged also were said to be out of town on spring break vacation.
According to a Monday, March 23, press release issued by the city,
Upper Arlington's Building Division inspected several nearby homes and
determined that six weren't safe for habitation and required structural
or utility repair work. The release said 18 homes sustained "minor" damage, but are safe for
occupancy. Eight homes still had their electricity temporarily cut off
by AEP Ohio March 23, including the six that had been deemed unsafe.
Fisanick's wife, Theresa, bruised her arm when the blast knocked her
off balance while she was showering. She said there were cracks in her
roof and 16 windows in her home were damaged -- including one that was
blown out in a rear room where her son, Nick, was playing video games.
"I thought it was an earthquake," Nick Fisanick said. Lin Blackwell, who lives nearby on Fishinger Road, said her aunt was
visiting from California and also thought an earthquake had occurred.
"The doors on the second floor all blew open, and they close tight," Blackwell said.
Blackwell said her home experienced cracking on its ceilings and a
third-floor window was broken. She added that she was in her backyard
with five nephews when they heard the explosion, and they witnessed
panicked golfers who previously had been enjoying the 60-degree
temperatures at the Ohio State University Golf Course on Tremont Road.
"People were playing and then the golf course just froze," she said.
"Then everyone on the golf course started running and someone said,
'Call 911.'" PUCO spokesman Matthew Schilling said his agency is assisting the UAFD's investigation in an advisory role.
He said the UAFD and Columbia Gas will conduct their initial
investigations of the explosion to see if any enforcement action is
required. From there, Columbia Gas is required to provide an initial
report of its findings to the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Material
Safety Administration within 30 days of the incident. The PHMSA and PUCO will make a determination of the cause of the
explosion based on the initial report and any findings by the fire
department.
He said the timing of that ruling "depends on the nature of the investigation." In the meantime, he reiterated that people should take the smell of natural gas seriously.
"Any customer out there who wants to report a leak should contact
their local utility and their local emergency responders," Schilling
said. Columbia Gas posted a press statement on its website Tuesday, saying the matter remains under investigation.
"Gas service remains shut off to the seven damaged homes. Before
service is restored, Columbia Gas will perform a thorough safety
inspection at each of those homes."
Employee’s death at International Paper’s Ticonderoga plant ‘preventable’.
OSHA cites paper manufacturer for willful, repeated, serious safety violations
ALBANY, N.Y. -
The death of an employee at
International Paper Co.’s Ticonderoga plant could have been prevented
if his employer provided proper safeguards and training, an inspection
by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health
Administration has determined.
The 57-year-old general mechanic was removing burned filter bags of combustible
fly ash dust from a dust collector in the facility’s power plant and
replacing them with new bags when the fly ash ignited. He sustained
severe burns as a result and subsequently died.
OSHA cited the paper manufacturer on July 22 for two willful, one repeated and three serious violations of workplace safety standards.
The agency opened its inspection on Jan. 24, 2015, and found that
International Paper failed to supply the employee with necessary
fire-resistant clothing and did not train him and employees on the
specific physical hazards of combustible fly ash. In addition, the
system for conveying and collecting the fly ash was deficient. It had
not been inspected for defects, did not comply with National Fire
Protection Association standards and had not been maintained
adequately. “This worker’s death was preventable. International Paper knew of
these hazards and deficiencies and did not address them,” said Kim
Castillon, OSHA’s area director in Albany. “While nothing can return
this man to his daughter and co-workers, the company can and must take
prompt and effective steps to ensure that this never happens again.”
The inspection also found that the company’s procedures for isolating
the dust conveyor system’s power source during maintenance activities
were incomplete. It also found that the company failed to complete
annual evaluations to ensure the procedures were effective. View the
citations here*.
OSHA has placed International Paper in its Severe Violator Enforcement Program,
which mandates targeted follow-up inspections to ensure compliance
with the law. Initiated in March 2011, the program focuses on
recalcitrant employers who endanger workers by committing willful,
repeated or failure-to-abate violations.
International Paper, which faces $211,000 in proposed fines, is a
global leader in the paper and packaging industry with manufacturing
operations in the U.S., Europe, Latin America, Asia and North Africa.
The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and
proposed penalties to comply, request an informal conference with
OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent
Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint,
or report amputations, eye loss, workplace hospitalizations, fatalities
or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should
call OSHA’s toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency’s
Albany Area Office at 518-464-4338. Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are
responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their
employees. OSHA’s role is to ensure these conditions for America’s
working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing
training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.
Preparedness Analysts with BSEE’s Oil Spill Preparedness Division boarded the Louisiana Responder
at Fort Jackson, Louisiana on July 14 to test the response readiness of
Anadarko Petroleum Corp.
While conducting an equipment verification,
the team witnessed the testing of a skimmer and other associated
equipment, stored in Buras, Louisiana, on the Mississippi River.
Subsequent response equipment, stored at Marine Spill Response Corp. in
Belle Chasse, Louisiana, was also verified.
The objective of equipment verification is to assure operators have
access to necessary resources outlined in their oil spill response plans
and to confirm that specialized equipment is in acceptable operating
condition and is being properly maintained.
A Fatal Crash Shows a Safety Problem With Stretch Limousines
The remains of a stretch
limousine in which four women were killed last weekend. Suffolk County
officials said it had started to turn left when it was hit broadside by a
pickup truck.Credit
The Suffolk Times JULY 23, 2015
By JIM DWYER, New York Times
To
travel safely as they toured wineries on the North Fork of Long Island
last weekend, eight young women booked a stretch limousine for the
afternoon. They could enjoy the wine and spirits without having to worry
about driving.
As
it turned out, they got into a vehicle that, like many stretch
limousines, had been stripped of the very safety features intended to
help people in regular cars survive broadside collisions.
Late in the afternoon, when the limousine started to make a U-turn, it was hit broadside by a pickup truck on Route 48 in Suffolk County. Four of the women died.
In
looking at photographs of the wreckage, Raul Arbelaez, an engineer with
the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety who has studied side-impact
crashes, said on Thursday that the truck struck the limousine at a spot
that had virtually none of the conventional protections.
“This
couldn’t have been centered on a worse place,” said Mr. Arbelaez, a
vice president at the institute’s Vehicle Research Center. “It hit the
most vulnerable spot.”
To
make a stretch limousine, an ordinary car is cut in half and plates are
used to extend the floor and the roof. Pillars in the car, running from
the ceiling to the floor, are normally part of a structural cage around
the passenger compartment in conventional cars. But in a stretch
limousine, the passenger areas are generally not protected by the
pillars.
“Where this crash was centered, you have none of that structure,” Mr. Arbelaez said.
Because
seats are reconfigured in stretch limousines, the ordinary principles
of protection for side-impact crashes do not apply: For a person sitting
with her back to the door on one side, the collision comes from the
rear; for a person facing her, it is a head-on collision. Officials
could not say if the side seats were equipped with safety belts.
In
regular passenger cars, federal standards require curtain airbags that
are packed into a roof rail and activated during a collision from the
side to protect the heads of the driver and passengers.
“What
you have in a stretch limousine is none of that,” Mr. Arbelaez said.
“Even if you wanted to put them in, I know of no airbag suppliers that
make an airbag big enough.”
A
strict regulatory regimen has reduced highway deaths drastically over
the last four decades — seatbelts, airbags and proof that vehicles can
continue to protect passengers in at least some collisions. Before a car
becomes a stretch limousine, the manufacturer must prove that it can
meet federal safety standards. After it has been bought, the new owner
can modify it into a stretch limo without having to show that it is
crashworthy.
The
young women had been riding in a Lincoln Town Car that had been
converted into a stretch limousine. The vehicle was hired from Ultimate
Class Limousine Worldwide, which has a base in Hicksville, on Long
Island. A public relations person for the limousine company did not
reply to questions about its safety features.
The
driver of the truck, Steven Romeo, has been charged with driving while
intoxicated, but authorities chose not to give him a breathalyzer test
at the scene, and officials in Suffolk County say they have not yet
received lab tests on his blood when this article was written. Today, the DA revealed that the blood alcohol level was 0.068, less than the 0.080 legal limit.
The charge was based on a police
officer’s observations that he was unsteady after the crash, had an odor
of alcohol, and acknowledged having had beer, according to Bob
Clifford, a spokesman for the Suffolk district attorney, Thomas Spota.
The limousine driver passed a breathalyzer test, Mr. Clifford said. The
authorities also seized the cellphones of both the limousine driver and
Mr. Romeo.
On
Thursday, Suffolk prosecutors agreed with Mr. Romeo’s lawyer that his
bail should be reduced to $50,000 from $500,000. Mr. Spota has scheduled
a press briefing for Friday.
Drunken
driving is an undeniable hazard, but it is not clear yet if it was a
factor in the devastation on Saturday. Officials would not say if they
expect the intoxication charges against Mr. Romeo to stand. A family
friend described him as being “inconsolable.” He remains hospitalized.
Another
factor at the crash site, a spot where limousines often make U-turns,
is the absence of a red light. Traffic tickets are issued every week to
limousine drivers for failing to yield the right of way to oncoming
traffic, the police in Southold said.
People
getting into limousines assume they are safe, but the stretch
limousines in particular do not provide much protection to passengers in
a crash. “It’s like playing in the World Cup,” Mr. Arbelaez said, “and
leaving the goalie box open.
Power problems caused delays for commuter train lines into New York
City on Friday, leaving thousands of riders livid and transit officials
apologizing for the fourth such problem in a week.
Friday's rail
power issue added to a summer that has seen delays of a half hour or
more for New Jersey Transit riders, about once every three working days,
according to a review of the agency's messages to commuters.
Amtrak
was restricted to operating three trains at a time through the Hudson
River Tunnel into New York City Friday morning, spokesman Craig Schultz
said in an email.
The head of New Jersey Transit again apologized
to commuters for the delays into Manhattan. Executive Director Ronnie
Hakim said in an email Friday that NJ Transit is "taking all steps
necessary to hold Amtrak accountable."
Amtrak, which owns most of
the tracks and equipment on the Northeast corridor between Washington,
D.C. and Boston, has said it needs money to repair and replace
infrastructure dating to the 1930s associated with the 105-year-old rail
tunnel into New York. More than 2,000 trains operated by Amtrak or
commuter rail lines run each day on the Northeast corridor, according to
Amtrak.
Amtrak's master plan to upgrade the Northeast corridor
includes improvements to tracks, signals and power lines between New
Jersey and New York; Amtrak officials didn't immediately comment Friday
on the status of those improvements.
Amtrak President and CEO Joseph Boardman met with reporters Friday afternoon to discuss the power problems.
Last
year Boardman said damage from Superstorm Sandy in 2012 would force
Amtrak to shut down one of the tunnel's tubes for repairs within less
than 20 years.
Funding for Amtrak has long been a contentious
issue in Congress. In May the House Appropriations Committee voted to
cut Amtrak's budget for next year to $1.1 billion, a $251 million
reduction and voted down a Democratic effort to boost federal funds for
the railroad by more than $1 billion.
In an emailed statement
Friday, Gov. Chris Christie said he asked the state attorney general's
office to see what steps can be taken to ensure the money paid by NJ
Transit to Amtrak is used properly. He also took to Twitter about the
issue:
NJ Transit pays about $100 million per year to Amtrak to use the rail lines.
"We've
got to make a decision on whether we're going to make some significant
investments in infrastructure or whether we're going to live with the
delays, the lost productivity, the inferior quality of life and less
business opportunities," Democratic New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez,
ranking member of the Senate subcommittee on housing, transportation,
and community development , said Friday.
Montclair resident
Matthew Walters blamed the aging infrastructure and said delays are a
weekly occurrence on his commute into New York.
"It's
come to the point where in the past, especially in the winter - the
winter's awful because of snow and ice, the trains are constantly backed
up and delayed, can be delayed for several hours - that in the winter I
come in the night before and stay with friends in Manhattan," he said
Friday.
The latest problem came two days after Amtrak power
problems on Wednesday delayed thousands of commuters from getting to and
from New York City. NJ Transit was forced to suspend service in and out
of the city and the agency apologized on Twitter to riders, saying the
"quality of the commute last few days has been unacceptable, we share
your frustration." The transit agency said it had "contacted Amtrak at
highest levels seeking solution."
Two people in Mountain Iron had to be taken to
the hospital after their ATV collided with a deer.
The crash happened around 5:30 Thursday on the 9500 block of old Highway 169.
The
St. Louis County Sheriff's Office says 41 year old Dale Halik and 31
year old Laura Leoni were ejected from the ATV when it struck the deer
in the roadway.
Leoni was taken by helicopter to a Duluth hospital and is said to be in serious condition.
Halik was taken to a nearby hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The Sheriff's Office is continuing to investigate the crash.
A
medical helicopter was called to an accident involving an all-terrain
vehicle and another vehicle in Daugherty Township, Beaver County, Friday
afternoon, Channel 11 has learned.
Initial reports indicated that
a juvenile suffered a head injury when an ATV he or she was on was
involved in accident in the 600 block of Blockhouse Run Road.
The victim was reportedly unconscious at the scene.
No further information about the victim’s condition was immediately available.
Photos captured at the scene of a fatal crash on northbound I-5, Thursday July
23, 2015. Traffic was at a stop on the interstate due to construction,
officials said. (Published Friday, July 24, 2015)
By
R. Stickney
Updated at 6:50 AM PDT on Friday, Jul 24, 2015
A driver was killed when a pickup truck slammed head-on into a tractor trailer on Interstate 5 near Camp Pendleton overnight.
Traffic was at a complete stop due to construction, officials said.
The California Highway Patrol said the crash occurred at 11:30 p.m. in the northbound lanes of I-5 near Harbor Drive.
The victim was identified as a 67-year-old man from Santa Fe Springs.
The tractor trailer driver was uninjured. He was carrying 80,000 pounds of tomatoes.
Greek customs officials have seized 16 armored vehicles from the Panama-flagged roll on, roll off (Roro) carrier Tychy, which
was stopped at the Keratsini port in Greece. The roro carrier was bound
for the Libyan Khalid port.
The illegal cargo consisted of eight armored
Typhoon GSS-300 military vehicles, five armored Toyota Land Cruisers,
one armored Mercedes and one BMW and another unnamed vehicle.
Shipping these vehicles into Libya is a violation of paragraph nine
of United Nations decision 1970/2011 which prohibits the supply, sale or
transfer of military or paramilitary equipment into the country.
The vessel is owned Maritime Operators Inc and is commercially
managed by Reefer & General Ship Management, both of which are based
in Greece.
An early morning crash between an 18-wheeler and a
pickup truck killed two women and critically injured five others.
The collision happened at about 1:30 a.m. in the 8200 block of I-35,
near Rutherford Lane. Austin-Travis County EMS reports the pickup truck
was stopped on the highway for some unknown reason when the 18-wheeler
hit it from behind at highway speed. The speed limit in that area is 70
miles per hour.
The people killed in the crash were Telesfora Moran Fuentes, 46, and Yesenia Nayeli Resendiz, 23. Both were from Oklahoma City.
EMS took three other children to Dell Children’s Medical Center with
critical injuries. Another adult in critical condition went to
University Medical Center Brackenridge. The woman driving the big rig
was also hurt, but is expected to recover.
All northbound traffic is being diverted off of the interstate at US
183. APD says the lanes may be closed through rush hour traffic. Drivers
are encouraged to use MoPac or SH 130 as an alternative.
One driver went around the barricades blocking the crash scene. After a short pursuit, officers were able to stop that car.
Update: I-35 is now open. Drive safely and cautiously.
