POLICE and fire crews reopened West Vancouver's Marine Drive following the clean up of a chemical spill that closed parts of the thoroughfare for several hours Thursday.
The mishap took place shortly after 9 a.m. when a 45-gallon drum filled with a component of insulating foam tipped over inside a cube van as the vehicle headed up 31st Street.
Police cordoned off the area, and a special hazmat team from the City of North Vancouver fire department was called in to help with the clean up.
The chemical was soaked up with sand, which was then removed with a municipal street sweeper, said West Vancouver assistant fire chief Martin Ernst.
One worker who was part of the insulating crew suffering stinging in his eyes but no one was evacuated while firefighters cleaned up approximately 20 gallons of isocyanate that had spilled on to the road.
A small amount of the liquid escaped into a nearby creek and from there into the ocean, said Ernst. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans was notified and clean-up crews were to set up absorbent booms in the water, he said.
The isocyanate is one half of a solution used to create expanding insulating foam for houses, said Ernst. The chemical reacts with water in warmer temperatures and can create hydrogen cyanide gas as well as carbon monoxide, he said. Luckily, cool temperatures meant only a small amount of gas was formed.
Transit service was temporarily diverted in response to the incident.
jseyd@nsnews
