Tanker With a Full Load of Human Waste Rolls Over Near South Haven
Talk about a "crappy" start to your day! An unfortunate and potentially smelly incident happened in South Haven township Tuesday morning when a semi-tanker rolled over at the intersection of M-43 and Blue Star Memorial Highway.
South Haven Area Emergency Services report responding to the incident around 9:40 a.m. on July 26 after the semi-tanker rolled over while attempting to navigate the turn. While this could have been a potentially deadly scenario, thankfully no injuries were reported.
Fortunately, the driver of the truck was able to come out of the accident relatively unscathed although responders say the driver was stuck in the cab for a time because it was crushed in the rollover. A passerby was able to help the driver escape from the cab.
What makes this incident even more unfortunate is what the semi-tanker was hauling! Reports say the semi-tanker was carrying,
...a full load of human waste sludge from the South Haven sewer treatment plant.
Just the term "sludge" is enough to make me nauseous, but the fact it was human waste is enough to make anyone queasy! Luckily, South Haven township residents were able to avoid a disastrous, smelly, and extremely messy accident as none of the contents the semi was hauling spilled out of the tanker. Can you imagine if it had?! Wait, don't think about that.
With help from the South Haven and Bangor Police Departments in addition to South Haven Public Works, traffic through the busy intersection was re-routed for a time but is once again open. Crisis averted!
South Haven area residents speculated as to what led up to the incident saying:
- "Going way too fast. My guess is he was trying to beat the light and once you get that much liquid shifting in a corner like that all you can do is hang on cause it’s going to go where it wants" - Jason VanOrder
- "I drove by this and kept thinking all the way home to myself how the heck did this get all the way over on it’s back? He must have been flying around that corner." - Shirley Churchill
- "A load you do NOT want on the road for sure. It's a good day in SH." - Jody Lynn