Ortega Highway Closed 2nd Time by Chemicals
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SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif. — For the second time this week, toxic chemicals were found dumped along Ortega Highway Wednesday, forcing closure of a 12-mile stretch of the road linking southern Orange County with Riverside County, officials said.
Firefighters and sheriff’s hazardous materials teams were attempting to determine how to dispose of the chemicals, Orange County fire spokesman Pat Antrim said.
About 100 pounds of chemicals--in several containers--were found by a motorist at a turnout about five miles from an incident reported Monday. Antrim said they were tentatively identified as a highly poisonous cyanide compound--”the same type of material found Monday,” in what officials said was the worst case of illegal toxic dumping in county history.
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