Traffic came to a halt on both sides of Interstate 515 / US 95 at East Charleston Boulevard and Las Vegas Boulevard North downtown after a 55 gallon drum containing sulfuric acid leaked on to the freeway late Wednesday afternoon. Parts of the highway were closed for nearly three hours as members of the Hazardous Material Response Team cleaned up the spill. There were no reported injuries.

A flat bed truck carrying several 55 gallon drums of sulfuric acid was northbound on the freeway, approaching the Eastern Avenue exit.  A car pulled up along side the truck and the driver waved for the truck to pull over. The truck stopped just past the Eastern Avenue overpass on the freeway, when the driver exited the truck, he noticed that acid was leaking from one of the drums. He called 9-1-1 and reported the spill.

The call was received at 4:16 p.m. Nevada Highway Patrol was first on the scene and after identifying the truck was carrying hazardous materials, troopers stopped traffic in both directions on the freeway and on Eastern Avenue from Cedar Street to Steward Avenue. The Las Vegas Fire & Rescue Hazardous Materials Team was dispatched and a short time later they arrived on scene and made an assessment of the leak. It was determined that only one drum was leaking and the situation could be brought under control.  Using another chemical, firefighters were able to neutralize the acid on the roadway. Traffic was first allowed to flow on Eastern Avenue and at 5:20 p.m. the southbound lanes on the freeway were reopened. The northbound side of the freeway was opened just after 7 p.m.

Sulfuric acid is a chemical commonly used on construction projects. The truck was returning to the company distribution facility in North Las Vegas after leaving a construction site near Boulder City. It was not determined on scene why the container leaked, that will be investigated by company that distributes the chemical.