Overturned Big Rig Leaks Paint On Highway 16 In Sacramento County

SACRAMENTO COUNTY (CBS13) – An overturned big rig carrying hundreds of gallons of latex paint shut down the Jackson Highway in Sacramento County on Friday morning.

"The driver was going through the intersection. His semi turned over. We have at least 600 gallons of spilled latex paint," said Capt. Brian Morr of the Sacramento Fire Department.

A big mess, but there was some good news was to come from this rollover.

"None of it made it to the storm drain," Morr said. "It's all contained."

That's because firefighters used dirt and sand to prevent it from spreading. However, it still caused issues traffic-wise on Florin Perkins Road and Highway 16.

"This is one of the major intersections of Sacramento County," Morr said. "There is a significant amount of trucking traffic through here in addition to people coming into town to work."

The driver of the truck walked away unscathed. He didn't want to go on camera but told CBS13 that the latex paint was placed in the center of the truck, making it top heavy, and that's why it tipped over.

"The city on something like this isn't really equipped to handle latex paint like this, so they have a contractor in place," said Doug Osborn with Sacramento County's Environmental Management Department.

"They have to clean up the truck and the paint before they right the truck," Osborn said. "Before they can haul the truck out of here, they have to get all the paint out of the truck too."

Sacramento Public Works indicates that the contracted clean-up crew should be finished by 8 p.m. The road is open, with the exception of the No. 2 lane westbound on Jackson Highway, which is closed for about 100 feet from the intersection of Jackson and Florin Perkins.

Officials said this is a project they definitely don't see every day - a big rig truck on its side with latex paint hugging up against the curb.

The semi was the only vehicle involved in the crash.