A Greeley police officer was doused with diluted hydrochloric acid Thursday morning when it splashed out of an oil rig truck onto the officer.
Police withheld the officer's name, but said he was immediately washed down and taken to a medical facility to be checked. He was treated at the facility and released.
Greeley police had set up a Department of Transportation truck check in the 600 block of U.S. 85 early Thursday where trucks are weighed and checked to make certain they comply with state and city regulations.
A truck from Haliburton Oil Services, hauling three small tanks of 28 percent hydrochloric acid was on the truck scale, and when it pulled away, the acid spilled out of the top of one tank.
Greeley Fire Department spokesman Dale Lyman said the acid spilled onto the officer's head and neck, although because it was diluted, the acid only caused a minor skin irritation. Fire trucks and ambulances responded to the scene.
Lyman said the officer was washed down at the scene. Police radio reports stated the officer later got a 20-minute shower and was checked at an urgent care clinic. Greeley police Sgt. Joe Tymkowych said because of health regulations, they couldn't release the officer's name.
To handle the spill of acid on the ground, firefighters first diluted the acid with water, then picked it up with a granular clay absorbent, much like kitty litter.
Lyman said the truck valve that spilled the acid was supposed to be fitted with a gasket to keep the acid from flowing out, but "this one didn't have a gasket."
Tymkowych said the incident remains under investigation.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
