Truck spills 80,000 pounds of human waste on highway
Photo from Cal Fire.
–On Friday morning at approximately 8:35 a.m., a tractor-trailer driven by Sergio Mercado Lepe, 45, of Wasco, Calif. was south bound on Highway l from Cambria with an 80,000-pound-load of human bio-solid waste product when it tipped over and spilled its load on the highway, according to California Highway Patrol.
The waste was from the Cambria Sewage Treatment Plant, and was en route to a waste treatment facility in Wasco.
The vehicle entered the left turn on Highway 46 East, and could not see the intersection due to heavy fog at that time of the morning. He abruptly made a left turn onto the 46 at an excessive speed for the foggy roadway conditions, according to CHP.
The trailer tipped over taking the tractor portion of the vehicle with it. The combination rolled over onto its right side spilling its load onto the roadway and right shoulder of SR 46 East.
None of the human bio-solid waste product entered Perry Creek.
The CHP established an incident command at the scene. Caltrans and Cal Fire responded to the scene for cleanup and traffic control. San Luis Obispo County Health Department also responded. With the assistance of Cal Trans, the company owner was able to clean up the waste spill and that portion of roadway was open at approximately 11:30 a.m.
Further investigation of this collision is being handled by the CHP.
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