15,000 Pounds of Hot Dog Filling Cover Highway After Memorial Day Weekend Mishap

By Allison Schonter

Memorial Day weekend grilling got off to a bit of a bumpy start after more than seven tons of hot dog filler spilled onto a Pennsylvania highway. Interstate 70 was left coated in some 15,000 pounds of the pink slime and was closed to one lane for hours on Friday as highway crews worked to clean the mess, a result of a speeding tractor-trailer.

The unsavory mess occurred after 30-year-old driver Makendy Lachald lost control of the 2004 Freightliner Friday evening. According to an incident report from the Belle Vernon Police Department, Lachald was "traveling at a high rate of speed" when he lost control of the tractor trailer, causing it to "exit the roadway and travel through the soft shoulder." The truck only came to a stop after impaling several trees, and "due to the violent stopping motion of Unit 31, the load contained inside the trailer of Unit 1 because dislodged, causing approximately 15,000 pounds of hot dog filler to catapult onto the road."

What resulted was a messy spill of thousands of pounds of hot dog filler, also called pink slime, which is typically a mix of pork, beef, chicken, and some combination of preservative. Due to the mess, I-70 westbound was restricted to one lane as crews worked to clean the mess, according to the Rostraver Central Fire Department. The incident report noted that the roadway was restricted for several hours before finally reopening at 10:30 p.m. local time.

Two people, including the driver and passenger of the tractor trailer, "suffered minor injuries" in the crash. The incident report said "both refused medical treatment." Further investigation into the crash revealed that "multiple brakes on the vehicle were completely inoperable, resulting in a total loss of stopping power." The report added that numerous citations would be filed against Lachald.

Unfortunately for all of those Memorial Day cookouts, the hot dog filler incident wasn't the only news to surface impacting the fan-favorite grilling food. On May 19, packages of Lafleur Original brand Wieners were recalled due to unspecified "texture and appearance issues." However, that recall was issued out of Canada and the recalled hot dogs were only sold in Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Quebec and not in the United States.

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