Barbara Lawlor

A hazardous material tanker carrying Aluminum Sulfate in a roundabout route to Betasso Water Treatment Plant near the bottom of Sugarloaf Road took a wrong turn on Friday morning and ended up stuck in a collapsed shoulder on Cold Springs Road.

The driver thought he was on the upper part of Sugarloaf Road but realized his error when the road dwindled to little more than a one-way lane. As he looked for a place to turn around, a car forced him to the right side of the road where his right wheel tire sank into a mud saturated shoulder.

The driver could not negotiate the tanker out of the deep tracks and he called for assistance. Two large equipment tow trucks were needed to get the job done. But first the  fluid had to be siphoned out of the tanker into another one. Because of the hazardous nature of the liquid, traffic was stopped as the exchange took place.

Marv's Towing out of Boulder sent their big trucks to get the job done. It was a dangerous situation and Nederland Fire Protection District firefighters stood by in case of an accident. Boulder Sheriff's deputies rerouted Cold Springs traffic as the tanker was pulled out and the pickup tanker continued transported the chemical to the water plant.

Aluminum Sulfate is used as a flocculating agent in the purification of drinking water. The chemical causes impurities to coagulate which are then removed as the particulate settles to the bottom of the tank.

Cold Springs Road was reopened in the late afternoon.