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Fuel spill cleanup expected to slow I-5 traffic in Lacey for weeks starting Sunday

By Martín Bilbao Olympian (Olympia, Wash.)

Drivers on Interstate 5 can expect slowdowns in Lacey for at least a couple weeks as work crews continue to cleanup after a March 13 fuel truck spill.

Crews will close lanes and reduce speeds on southbound I-5 between mileposts 109 and 110 near Carpenter Road starting Sunday, according to a Washington State Department of Transportation news release.

Work has been scheduled from 6 p.m. in the evening to 6 a.m. the following morning Sundays through Thursdays, according to the news release. No work will occur in the evening on Fridays or Saturdays.

WSDOT says southbound I-5 will be reduced to two lanes and speed limits will be lowered from 60 to 45 miles per hour through the work zone during work hours.

The March 13 spill occurred at about 5:50 a.m. after a tanker truck left the roadway to the left and rolled, the Olympian previously reported. Washington State Patrol described the cause as “speed too fast for conditions,” according to a press memo.

A 43-year-old Puyallup driver and 21-year-old Tacoma passenger were injured in the crash, according to the memo, and were transported to Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia.

Traffic slowed for 11 hours and 32 minutes on March 13 due to the crash and subsequent cleanup, the memo says.

The rollover spilled 2,850 gallons of diesel fuel which contaminated the nearby soil, according to the WSDOT news release. Work crews initially treated the area and removed 2.5 tons of contaminated material.

Starting Sunday, work crews plan to remove contaminated soil and replace it with fresh fill. This process is expected to take between two and six weeks to complete, according to the WSDOT release.

“The exact amount of time the work will take depends on how much soil needs to be removed and replaced,” said WSDOT technical engineer Andy Larson. “Crews will be testing throughout the cleanup.”

Snider Energy has been contracted to complete the cleanup by June 9, WSDOT says.

If work continues through May, the release says crews will pause their work on Memorial Day and keep lanes open on Sunday, May 28 and Monday, May 29.

WSDOT advises travelers to slow down in work zones, pay attention to traffic and be kind to workers on the roadway.

The public can see real-time traffic information on the WSDOT statewide travel map, the WSDOT app and WSDOT regional Twitter account.