Chemical spill along Highway 59 near Garrison cause lanes to be shutdown

LUFKIN, Texas (KTRE) -Lanes have reopened along Highway 59 near Garrison, following a hazmat chemical spill.

The chemical was a water-soluble solution used in oil fields.

Shortly after 8 a.m. Monday, a truck carrying containers of a dangerous chemical lost two of its loads on Highway 59 South of Garrison.

Traffic was rerouted and the Nacogdoches County Sheriff’s Office evacuated residents within a quarter mile of the scene.

Garrison ISD also placed on a lockdown to ensure that students were safe.

“We went into our sheltering place and we aligned our buses for our indoor evaluation which were scheduled to go to Mount Enterprise ISD at the time, but Mount Enterprise ISD was out of electricity, so we had to make alternate plans on that,” said Reid Spivey, Garrison ISD Superintendent.

TxDOT, Nacogdoches County Sheriff Office and fire department and Garrison Fire Department also responded to the scene to help assist, which County Judge Greg Sowell said important for emergencies such as these.

“It's really a blessing that all of these agencies can come together and work together as smooth as we have on this to be able to contain and shut this spill down and to shut the scene down and to minimize the risk of lives and property from it,” said Sowell.

“We are very proud of our teachers and out staff and our transportation director and school resource officer and everybody involved today they did an outstanding job of having the buses in position to evacuate,” said Spivey.

No injuries were reported.

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