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I-68 Closed After Fatal Crash, Chemical Spill

Posted: 3:21 pm EST November 9, 2007Updated: 6:10 pm EST November 9, 2007

Residents were ordered to stay in their homes Friday near Cheat Lake, W.Va., after a hazardous chemical spill on Interstate 68 just east of Morgantown.

A shelter-in-place advisory for about 4,000 homes in the Cheat Lake area was lifted by 3 p.m. but I-68 remained closed.

Mike Wolfe with Monongalia County Emergency Management said the Department of Environmental Protection determined there is no health threat from the chemical toluene that leaked from a tractor-trailer.

The big rig overturned at about 4 or 4:30 a.m. Friday, killing the driver, 40-year-old Paul Staley, of New Martinsville, W.Va.

It wasn't immediately clear how much of the chemical spilled from the truck, but Wolfe said the leak had been contained.

Toluene is a colorless liquid used in the making of paints, paint thinners, fingernail polish and other like products. Exposure can affect a person's nervous system -- causing dizziness, nausea, unconsciousness or even death.

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