Hazmat crews probe chemical spill at Gwinnett shopping center

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — Hazmat crews are investigating a chemical spill at a Lawrenceville shopping center.

News Chopper 2 flew over the Springfield Park shopping center, where several vehicles with the county's fire department were in a back parking lot Tuesday afternoon. Members of the county's hazmat team were examining areas underneath a tractor-trailer. Firefighters said there was a spill involving hydrofluoric acid, a heavy cleaning chemical.

"The truck was delivering product and the product was inside of the truck, and it started spilling out," Gwinnett County fire Lt. Colin Rhoden told Channel 2's Kerry Kavanaugh.

The chemical was headed elsewhere, but officials with the Gwinnett Medical Center said the truck was making a separate delivery to its human resources building when the spill was discovered.

Rhoden said four people were exposed  --  meaning the chemical was on their skin  --  and they were taken to the Gwinnett Medical Center to be decontaminated. He said the spill involved half of a five-gallon container.

WSBTV