4 p.m. update Hazardous materials cleanup crew remains on the scene. Major backups reported on U.S. Route 60 from Montgomery to Hico. State Route 61 from Montgomery to Oak Hill is shutdown after a tractor trailer got stuck at a turn on Deepwater Mountain. Commercial traffic urged to use Detour A/U.S. Route 19, Interstate 79.
MAHAN, W.Va. — The driver of a tractor trailer which crashed on the West Virginia Turnpike early Thursday morning has been charged with driving under the influence.
The crash occurred around 12:30 a.m. Thursday on the Skitter Creek Bridge between the Mossy and Mahan exits.
According to Parkways Authority Executive Director Jeff Miller, the driver lost control of the truck, it overturned, and came to rest upside down on the median wall where it burst into flames. The driver managed to escape and was there when State Police arrived on the scene. Troopers immediately determined he was impaired and took him into custody.
“Because of one individual’s actions, this has caused a disruption to thousands of travelers,” said Miller on MetroNews “Talkline.”
The driver is identified as Dennis Eugene West, 54, of Moncks Corner, S.C.
West was not hurt. He blew a .128 on a breathalyzer, nearly two times the legal limit.
He’s being held in the Southern Regional Jail on $2,500 bail.
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection was soon on the scene dealing with cleanup of the hazardous material the truck was hauling.
The truck was hauling 12 275-gallon totes of Alkyl Dimethylamine, which is primarily used as a cleaning agent, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.
Kanawha County Homeland Security and Emergency Management said the spill caused a fish kill on Skitter Creek and on Paint Creek downstream. Biologist from the DEP and DNR are monitoring the situation and trying to come up with a plan to limit damage. Officials said the material is putting off a pungent odor to communities along the streams.
The Detour A plan is in effect which diverts traffic onto I-79 north to U.S. Route 19 and on the southern end onto U.S. Route 19 north to I-79 and then back to Charleston. Local traffic used U.S. Route 60 and State Route 61, but unfortunately, Miller said some truck drivers have also taken those as alternate routes and it has created an even bigger mess.
“That is our major detour since this happened north of Beckley and south of Charleston. There’s not any convenient nor really technically approved routes for tractor trailers to use other than 79 and 19,” he said.
An early morning crash involving a tractor-trailer leaves both lanes closed on the turnpike between Mossy and Mahan. What’s the latest? Jeff Miller, Executive Director of the WV Parkways Authority, provides the latest to @HoppyKercheval. WATCH: https://t.co/yCFQ3nDJuy pic.twitter.com/R2kmuOuHkK
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) August 25, 2022
Miller said an investigation is underway into the accident. The immediate priority is clearing the accident and getting the road reopened, but the investigation will become much more prominent going forward.
“All parties are taking this very serious. There’s a lot of cost and a lot of disruption to travelers, but again as I said, I believe this was a preventable situation,” he said.
