Just looking to make a left turn and head for Tyrone, an Alabama semi-tanker-truck driver overturned Monday at Ga. Highways 54 and 74 in Peachtree City, creating a long, hard day for emergency personnel and drivers in the area.

The Santee Carriers Inc. truck was loaded with hydrated lime, also known as calcium hydroxide, which did not pose a threat to the community or surrounding area, according to Police Chief Jim Murray.

Murray said the truck apparently was turning off Hwy. 54 eastbound onto Hwy. 74 northbound, and turned over off the roadway in front of the Westpark Walk shopping area.

Traffic was rerouted around the intersection for about five hours after the 8 a.m. accident during the rainy morning rush. Murray said the accident "could not have happened at a worse time and place."

Charges may be pending against the truck driver, Ken Doreidson, but the incident is still under investigation, Murray said. Doreidson was checked over by paramedics at the scene but was not injured, according to Capt. Stony Lohr of the Peachtree City Fire Department.

Fayette's HAZMAT (hazardous materials) team remained on standby during the day, Lohr said. There was never a risk of explosion, but Lohr described the substance as "caustic." Leakage from the truck tank as wreckers attempted to right the vehicle "was causing a dust that you wouldn't want to breathe," but there was no official evacuation of the area, Lohr said.

Lohr said the first attempt to right the trailer caused its "front landing gear" to collapse from the trailer/cargo weight and "roll farther down the hill." It was then determined that the truck should be emptied, according to Betsy Tyler, city spokeswoman. Firefighters, wrecker companies, environmental experts and crane operators worked until midnight Monday, first vacuuming the tanker contents and then towing the vehicle away, Tyler said.

She said that because of the "zero emissions tolerance" on spills, a method was devised to "filter" the lime to prevent air pollution as it was sucked out of the truck.

After the initial snarls and stopping traffic for the early attempts to move the truck, she added, traffic flowed "freely but slowly" through the intersection, with only one northbound lane of Hwy. 74 closed.