'stormtroopers?' Ins, Advocate Differ On 
Immigrants' Treatment 
Roundup Of 137 At Scranton Meat-packing 
Plant Was `outlandish,' Volunteer Says. Not So, 
Says An Ins Director.

Activist `outraged' By Racist Posters 
The Fliers Contain Verbal Attacks On Black People And Bear The Address Of The 
`aryan Racial Loyalist Party.'

By JERRY LYNOTT and ANTHONY COLAROSSI; Times Leader Staff
Writer
 Thursday, December 15, 1994 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1A 





PITTSTON TWP. -- A tanker truck loaded with compressed helium overturned on
an Interstate 81 off-ramp and rolled onto Route 315 Wednesday night, closing
down sections of both highways for more than four hours. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 State, county and local emergency workers decided to vent the helium from
the truck's 11 storage tanks, releasing the material into the air, said Jim
Siracuse, executive director of the Luzerne County Emergency Management
Agency. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The emergency action caused I-81 to be closed from exits 48 to 50 in both
directions. All Route 315 lanes also were closed from the Oak Street exit to
the Pittston Township/Avoca exit. The Pennsylvania Turnpike was not closed. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The interstate was opened again about 12:20 a.m., when the truck and
trailer were uprighted. Route 315 was opened shortly after 1 a.m. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The truck's driver was traveling south on I-81 about 7:45 p.m. when he
turned off the highway at the Dupont/Pittston exit, Siracuse said. He lost
control while turning the truck along the off-ramp's curve. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The truck, with its wheels in the air, ended up in the northbound lane of
Route 315, Siracuse said. The truck was situated directly below an I-81
overpass. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Siracuse said helium is not an extremely dangerous material, but it is
flammable and can explode. Workers from the county, the state Department of
Environmental Resources and the Pittston Township Fire Department decided to
vent the gas, Siracuse said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Although the gas is odorless, high levels of it can cause suffocation,
Siracuse said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Any time you have material under compression there is that danger,"
Siracuse said, adding that the uncertainty of an explosion led to the decision
to close the highways. "We realize it's putting a lot of people out. However,
it's just not worth the risk." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Siracuse said some of the tanker's valves were damaged in the accident. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The truck driver, Brian Livingston, 35, of Mattydale, N.Y., was slightly
wounded in the crash and treated at the scene. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 He told police he was leaving I-81 at Exit 48. As he came off the ramp, he
said, he felt the load shift and the truck rolled over. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 He assisted in venting the helium. Livingston works for MG Gas Industries
of Syracuse, N.Y. He was headed to Philadelphia to make a delivery. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Wreck Backs Up Interstate 
Emergency Crews Vented The Tanker Of Its Compressed 
Helium Cargo. The Accident Closed I-81 And Route 
315 For Several Hours

Wreck Backs Up Interstate Emergency Crews Vented The Tanker Of Its Compressed Helium Cargo. The Accident Closed I-81 And Route 315 For Several Hours