IP Explosion: Highway 29 Now Open North And Southbound

January 24, 2017

Update 2:00 a.m. Tuesday: Highway 29 is now open northbound and southbound in Cantonment.

Update 8:45 p.m. — ALERT — HIGHWAY 29 Northbound lanes are open, southbound lanes remain closed, with a detour in place.

Update: 12:45 pm. — The Florida Department of Transportation is on scene. Due to the chemical makeup of the material, Highway 29 will remain closed until work crews can wash the roadway. The chemical is of a soap type base chemical, and it is unknown what type of reaction the chemical will have when moisture is introduced. The roadway could become slippery, and cause a hazard to the roadway and motorist. The previous detours will remain in effect.

Due to the explosion at the International Paper Company Plant in Cantonment, Highway 29 is closed between Muscogee Road to the north and Tate Road to the south and Muscogee Road and Jacks Branch Road to the west and County Rd 95A from Woodbury Place to Muscogee Road. At this point there is still no time frame on how long the roadway will be closed for  cleanup.

The substance on the roadway is called “Black Liquor”. It is a skin, eye and respiratory irritant. The State Fire Marshall is on scene and there are trucks with sand on standby to begin the cleanup. The Escambia Sheriff’s Office is on scene assisting. Currently FHP personnel assigned to this incident due to road closures.

Related story: No Injuries As Explosion Rips Through International Paper In Cantonment

Related story: All Escambia Schools Are Open On Monday
Related story: Black Substance Covers Area Around Plant

NorthEscambia.com photo by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.

Comments

14 Responses to “IP Explosion: Highway 29 Now Open North And Southbound”

  1. BRING IT ON on January 24th, 2017 1:43 pm

    Well they finally got Hwy 29 open. There wouldn’t be a north and south travel issue if our planners would get off their duff and do their job. We’ve been needing another north and south route for a long while. Just like the stretch of Alt 90 or 9 mile Rd is finally being 4 laned. Nothing like waiting til the last minute. My parents moved to Pensacola area in 1959. I can remember my mother always saying that nothing ever gets done with our planners until a disaster or it benefits them. I guess some things never change.

  2. juju on January 24th, 2017 11:39 am

    Stop crying about how hard this has been on you…so what one day of taking longer to get to work and school..This plant is and has been a vital part of this community for many years. It has been one of the largest employers in our area, providing good paying jobs to many people. If everyone rushes to file a lawsuit for a dirty yard and roof then this plant will close. as is it now there are people who will be without a paycheck for many weeks. Take a moment to think about others before complaining at how things were done.

  3. Well on January 24th, 2017 9:45 am

    So as much as we complain about 29, we really miss it when it’s not available.

    Glad we’re all still here and able to voice ourselves.

  4. Michael on January 24th, 2017 9:19 am

    Thank goodness that all of the IP employees are safe.

  5. Lakenanne on January 24th, 2017 8:43 am

    Bartender:

    Get your facts right, employee worked for and was killed at Airgas, not Monsanto. There has not been a Monsanto in Cantonment since 1997. It was Solutia, then was sold in 2009 and is now Ascend Performance Materials.

  6. Kels on January 24th, 2017 6:59 am

    Thank God nobody was killed and Thank God both lanes are open!!!

  7. Al Buchanan on January 24th, 2017 1:13 am

    Thanks Bartender those are true and very kind words i really appreciate it. Ive been at the mill 22 years and. im begging people please dont rush to the lawyers the community needs this mill around. Thank God nobody was killed thats the most important thing but please think about the community without this mill on the north end it wouldnt be good. Please Please Please be sympathetic and dont try to sue!!

  8. kwithers on January 23rd, 2017 8:26 pm

    I came from Pensacola at 4:45. There was no way of knowing if we still needed to detour at Kingsfield except for the lines of traffic backed up both ways. No detour or warning signs anywhere. I took the detour just because I didn’t want to waste time coming up to check out the road. It took an hour just to get to the Kingsfield/297A crossing. I didn’t get home until 6:45. The county has known that the bottleneck in Cantonment is a problem ever since the evacuation for Hurricane Opal when folks were stuck in their cars for hours. Instead of spending money on ferries for Fort Pickens the county commissioners need to start investing time and money in a new north/south traffic corridor.

  9. bartender on January 23rd, 2017 7:21 pm

    thank god no one was hurt.i hope and pray alot of people dont start running to lawyers like they did with bp oil spill.this company needs to stay open.theres alot of people that depend on ip to feed their familes. your worried about cars yards etc. just thank god no one was killed like at monsanto.if it proved to be harmless dont lie and say youre sick.if its not harmless yes let ip wash your car or clean your yard. we need ip here for jobs.they have been around since the 50s.pensacola has no good paying jobs as it is .so please think about this before jumping to theses lawyers thats gona want a cut.

  10. Dale Flowers on January 23rd, 2017 6:32 pm

    Earlier this afternoon there was a bottleneck in the detour at the 4-way stop at 297A and Kingsfield. Traffic was backed up for over a mile. ESCO or FDLE needs to have a traffic cop on site to improve the flow of traffic as the good people of Escambia County were dutifully and politely going through that intersection one at a time.

    Further, the county needs a contingency plan for detailing a traffic cop for congested traffic at choke points when detours are put in place.

  11. don't understand on January 23rd, 2017 5:29 pm

    It is coming up on 24 hrs since the explosion. although i know this is serious, why
    has it taken them this long to figure out that the road needs to be cleaned. Do they realize that they are going to cause a pure old mess this afternoon with the traffic. it will take 2 hours or more for people to get to molino.

  12. Willis on January 23rd, 2017 9:47 am

    Muscogee, 297A and Kingsfield are the current detour.

  13. No Excuses on January 23rd, 2017 9:39 am

    I took Morris Ave to Well Line Road, then got on 97 from Muscogee. I work at Saufley, so I was able to get to Pensacola by going that way. Traffic is terrible!

  14. Brandy on January 23rd, 2017 8:17 am

    Please do not attempt to take Woodbury Circle as a detour. It is a dead-end street.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News