Tanker overturns

The 1300 block of East Pool Road was closed for about two hours Friday when a tanker truck overturned on the westbound entrance ramp of Interstate 20 around 9:40 a.m.

The accident closed access to the ramp and a small portion of East Pool Road near Grandview Avenue.

The 2007 Western Star tanker from Cudd Energy Services was full of nitrogen at the time of the accident. Odessa police Cpl. R.A. Blake said the driver, 24-year-old George E. McKee, was going too fast on the ramp, which caused the vehicle to tip onto its right side. Some nitrogen was flowing from a leak in the tanker, but it didn’t pose a hazardous risk.

“No harm, no foul. Eighty percent of what we breathe in is nitrogen,” Odessa Fire Department Battalion Chief Kavin Tinney said.

Nitrogen in the tanker was at a temperature of 300 degrees below zero. Tinney compared the tanker to a thermos, saying that the tanker has protective measures but the internal liner did crack, resulting in the small leak.

McKee was cited for driving at an unsafe speed. The police and fire departments responded to the scene along with the Texas Department of Transportation.