This Bud's for no one

Published on 12/17/2006 in THE POST-STAR (Local news)

QUEENSBURY -- Sheriff's officers are used to seeing accidents where alcohol is involved, but in the case of a tractor-trailer that overturned on Route 149 near Bay Road early Saturday morning, alcohol was a victim rather than a suspect.

An International tractor-trailer carrying a full load of bottled Budweiser beer slid off the road and overturned around 6 a.m., spilling its cargo all over the road and into the surrounding woods, according to the Warren County Sheriff's Office.

The truck was operated by 61-year-old Thomas J. Waltos of North Syracuse, who was extricated from the truck cab by Bay Ridge Volunteer Fire Company and Bay Ridge EMS. Waltos was treated at the scene but refused further medical attention, officers said.

The accident was apparently caused by black ice and a possible load shift as the truck slid around a curve, heading eastbound down a hill toward Bay Road.

"There was a lot of alcohol involved, but was the operator drinking? I'd have to say no, that's been ruled out," said Warren County Sheriff Sgt. Pasquale Girard.

The tractor-trailer, a 2005 model owned by Gypsum Express Ltd., was en route from Baldwinsville, near Syracuse, to South Burlington, Vt., for a delivery. Its cargo of beer was "a total loss," according to the Sheriff's Office.

No assistance was needed from the Department of Environmental Conservation's spills response team, because the spill did not affect any waterways or residences, Girard said. A crew from Thomson's Garage in Lake George was called to the scene for towing and waste removal, a process that took at least eight hours and required closing Route 149 between Oxbow Hill Road and Walkup Cutoff. Sheriff's officers diverted traffic along Moon Kill Road. The accident was investigated by Warren County Sheriff's Officer Adam Spinelli.

By 10:30 a.m., the air was still thick with the yeasty smell of a brewery as a reporter reached the scene. The road's shoulder was a slick black paste of beer and dirt beneath a waist-high pile of crushed cardboard boxes and broken bottles. The work would take several more hours, but the cleanup crew was in a cheerful mood.

"I can't complain! It's a beautiful day, and it's not snowing," Fred Thomson said, after removing the trailer's remaining metal siding with a blowtorch.

Harry Saum stopped digging his front-end loader into the pile of bottles long enough to answer a question about his job title.

"What's it look like? I'm a beer cleaner-upper," he replied with a grin.

Gypsum Express or its insurance carrier will be billed for the cleanup, Girard said.

--