Police: HazMat at Darien Rest Area Was Hydrogen Peroxide

A hazardous material emergency that forced the shutdown of the northbound I-95 Darien rest area Sunday was prompted by hydrogen peroxide seeping from a tractor trailer, police announced Monday.

Patrols from Troop G were dispatched to the service plaza around 1:30 p.m., according Lt. J. Paul Vance, after a report of an unknown liquid escaping from a parked truck.

When troopers arrived, driver Jouharian V. Khatchik of Pasadena, Calif. told them that he had been hauling eighty 55-gallon drums of hydrogen peroxide (placard #2014). Khatchik said he had stopped at the rest area and noticed the chemical leaking from the truck as he prepared to leave, at which point he called 911.

Darien firefighters, already on the scene when troopers arrived, closed and evacuated the service plaza. Responders from the Department of Environmental Protection and Connecticut Tank Removal, a company that specializes in spill response, also came to the site of the incident.

After containing the liquid, officials determined that the load of barrels had shifted inside of the trailer, forcing one of them against a protruding nail and causing the leak.

The full rest area was closed for about four hours, police said, while the truck lot where the trailer was parked stayed roped off until 8:30 p.m.

No injuries were reported in the incident.