Fertilizer spill temporarily shut down rural Petaluma road

A 250-gallon plastic container of organic fertilizer that fell from the back of a flatbed truck prompted road closures and snarled traffic on a rural Petaluma road Thursday morning.

Around 8:20 a.m., the container fell from the truck and began leaking after the driver turned left onto Adobe Road from Green String Farm, Petaluma Fire Battalion Chief Jeff Holden said. Adobe Road was closed at Stage Gulch and Frates Road, but reopened by 9 a.m.,

The liquid looked like “chocolate milk,” and was determined to be a potash fertilizer, Holden said. It wasn’t clear how much spilled, but the truck driver and other employees from the fertilizer company washed the material from the roadway, Holden said.

An initial call to a hazardous materials officer was issued, but the response was called off once it was determined the material wasn’t dangerous, Holden said.