Chicken fat on Virginia highway causes 4 crashes

Chicken fat that leaked from a waste truck onto the roadway caused at least four accidents and made a smelly mess in Virginia.

Photo: Chicken fat on Virginia highway causes 4 crashes

Virginia State Police said a truck hauling waste chicken grease from a Perdue Farms plant left a valve open, and the fat leaked onto U.S. Route 13 from the plant to the Maryland state line.

At least four crashes and several spinouts were reported Tuesday morning on northbound Route 13, Sgt. Joe Bunting. One injured person was taken to a hospital, he said.

Bunting described the consistency of the chicken grease on the road as a "glassy film" and said crews were sanding the road surface to help drivers get traction.

However, the gunk was sticking to the tires and spreading onto secondary roads in the region. He added that the grease caused a "really funky" odor.

The truck's driver was stopped at a weigh-in station near the Virginia-Maryland state line, Bunting said.

Perdue was sending a team to help with clean-up, Bunting said.

A call by The Associated Press to Perdue's corporate headquarters was not immediately returned.