522 reopens after early morning tanker crash

COURTESY OF SPERRYVILLE VOLUNTEER FIRE CO.

Authorities reopened U.S. 522 in the Boston area of Rappahannock County at about noon today, after a tanker overturned early this morning, causing a spill of emulsified asphalt and closing the two-lane highway between Sperryville and Culpeper for close to six hours.

The crash, just south of the intersection of Route 604 (Round Hill Road), did not involve any other vehicles. The driver, Wilbur Garman of Orrstown, Pa., was reportedly out of the cab when rescuers arrived and was transported to Culpeper Memorial Hospital (and later flown to University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville. Virginia State Police are investigating the cause.

A Winchester-based hazardous materials team was dispatched to the accident scene, which is now the site of a cleanup by a Virginia Department of Environmental Quality contractors.

The Virginia Department of Transportation had set up detours during the closure. More information later today, and in Thursday’s Rappahannock News.