A cement truck spilled a large amount of concrete Saturday afternoon that spanned approximately three city blocks along portions of Anacapa Street that resulted in multiple road closures, police said.
Police were notified of the spill Saturday morning. The spill started in the 100 block of East De la Guerra Street and also affected the intersection of East Cota and Anacapa streets, said Anthony Wagner, spokesman for the Santa Barbara Police Department.
“It seems the driver had the drum rotation set to ‘spill’ instead of ‘mix’ when he drove away from the work site,” Mr. Wagner said in an email. “The spill caused a serious traffic hazard and the roads were shut down to vehicles for several hours while Public Works called in a clean-up crew to manage the incident.”
The California Highway Patrol also responded to assist with the investigation.
“An inspection of the cement truck was completed and there was several equipment related vehicle code violations,” Mr. Wagner said. “It also appears the driver of the cement truck had been operating this type of commercial vehicle for less than a week on his own.”
The case is being referred to the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office for review and filing against the driver and the cement company, Mission Ready Mix. Potential charges include spilling hazardous waste, dumping a load on the roadway, and not securing the load, Mr. Wagner said.
The case was also sent to the city’s Risk Management Department to recuperate the city’s costs. The name of the driver was withheld.
