http://www.courant.com/breaking-news/hc-tolland-crash-evacuations-0213-20170212-story.html

As many of you have probably already heard, a tractor trailer slid off of I-84 in Tolland Sunday night.  This vehicle was carrying roughly 900 barrels of chemicals that were being transported to a facility in Massachusetts.  When it slid off the road, on a section state police Sgt. Kenneth Albert described as a treacherous stretch of I-84, the presence of snow and slush compounded this issue.  This is why the state had snow plows out clearing the roads and placing salt down prior to, through, and after the storm to keep the roads as safe as possible.  Even with those precautions in place, the truck still slid off the road and cleanup crews had a difficult time reaching it, creating a potentially serious hazmat scare.  Luckily, none of the barrels wound up leaking, allowing the cleanup to occur much faster.  If they had leaked into the snow and soil however, the risk would’ve increased exponentially.  Melting snow can carry the contaminant into surface bodies of water.  The chemicals could also move through the soil, contaminating any local aquifers.  The quick cleanup helped avert disaster, but having these kinds of policies in place to prevent and respond to such disasters is a necessity.

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