Deadly Accident In Wilkes County

Rayle, GA—-Melvin Bailey has delivered mail along Highway 78 for nearly 30 years. He says he’s never run into problems with traffic, until Monday morning.

Melvin Bailey, Rayle, GA Mail Carrier: “It delayed the mail getting to us. I’m running about two hours behind.”

Wilkes County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) crews spent more than seven hours trying to clean up a chemical spill on the highway.

Chief Poss, Wilkes County EMA Director: “Some of it was gas. It was a cloud there but there is liquid.”

Part of Highway 78 was shutdown after this tractor-trailer overturned and leaked Sodium HypoChlorite (which is bleach) into the air. The driver died at the scene. Nearby homeowners were told to stay inside.

Chief Poss: “A good portion of the tank, I’d say more than 80% of the tank leaked out and it seemed to have leeched to the ground there.”

Chief Poss says inhaling too much of the chemical could be hazardous. Several agencies responded to the accident including the Athens-Clark County hazmat team. Chief Poss says there is a creek nearby the spill but folks won’t have to be concerned about water being contaminated.

Chief Poss: “We think it’s soaking into the soil. There’s enough distance between there.”