50 Years Ago
The July 29, 1976 Golden Transcript reported that Golden's water treatment plant had been closed for four hours the previous night. On July 28th, a gasoline tanker truck failed to negotiate a curve in Clear Creek Canyon. It strayed into the oncoming traffic, hit an automobile head-on, and tipped over onto its side. None of the people involved in the collision were seriously injured. Traffic through the canyon was stopped for 13 hours.
The tanker contained the gasoline even after tipping. Another tanker arrived to remove as much of the load as possible, but when the truck was lifted back onto its wheels, some of the tank seams split and gasoline spilled onto the road. A highway crew had prepared for that, and had built a dike to contain any spillage, but some gasoline made its way into Clear Creek.
The state patrol warned Golden's water treatment operators that the gasoline would be coming down the Creek, so City staff turned off the water intake for four hours until any contaminated water had time to pass.
