Clean-up crews work to secure a liquid petroleum gas spill from a wreck Monday, which had U.S. 31 closed for three days. Photo provided/Trent Smith — ISP

By Rusty Nixon Correspondent
PLYMOUTH  — A section of U.S. 31 near Argos, closed since Monday, is finally open to traffic.
A semi-tanker crash and subsequent gas leak has had the road closed to contain any possible problems. Officials on the scene expected to have U.S. 31 open between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Wednesday. They accomplished that task.
“The main issue was that there was not originally a leak,” said Indiana State Police Sergeant Trent Smith, also public information officer. “There was substantial damage to the tanker so there was a fear that moving anything might cause one.”
The tanker, driven by Ennis Lester of Amarillo, Texas, was carrying liquid natural gas and was stopped at the railroad crossing on U.S. 31 near 13th Road. It was rear-ended by a truck driven by Richard Merchant of Hopkins, Mich. State law requires trucks carrying flammable liquid to stop at railroad crossings.
Merchant was trapped in his vehicle for more than four hours.
Having determined that Merchant did not have life-threatening injuries, officials brought in equipment to extract him from his vehicle without creating a spark.
Natural gas in it’s cryogenic state freezes whatever it touches, before evaporating back to it’s gaseous state. Once a gas it is flammable if it comes in contact with an ignition source such as a spark.
While extracting Merchant the tanker sprung a leak.
“Then it became a waiting game, waiting for all the liquid to come out,” said Smith. “They were kind of at the mercy of the liquid. They really couldn’t do anything more until it was all out.”
Once officials had determined the leak was stopped and the flammable cloud dissipated, they could begin to clean up the site and remove the vehicles.
Since the natural gas was in a cryogenic state it returns to it’s gaseous state immediately upon heating. Since it does not remain a liquid, it was believed there would be no long term environmental impact or a need for a long term clean up
Marshall County Sheriff’s Detective Sergeant Duane Culp commented that crews were cleaning up the remnants of the crash.  Supporting agencies were investigating, examining the trucks, removing debris and making road repairs. 
Culp also said that individuals who evacuated their homes after the crash were able to safely return permanently Wednesday evening.