40 years ago: Fertilizer truck overturns south of town

From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Jan. 29, 1974:

  • A front-page photo today showed a 5,000-gallon trailer carrying 71,000 pounds of 28 per cent nitrogen fertilizer which had overturned this morning south of Lawrence, near the Wakarusa River. Officials were attempting to control the flow of the chemical, which was leaking from the unit and seeping toward the river. The State Environmental Health Service’s water pollution division had been notified. Eudora city officials said their water came from wells and would probably not be affected by the spill. The driver later told officers that a truck tire had blown out, causing him to lose control. Damage was estimated at $1,800 to the truck, with an estimated 80 percent of the 5,000 gallons of fertilizer recovered and pumped into another truck.
  • An Associated Press story today stated that despite complaints about children having to walk to school in the dark, there was no firm proof that the wintertime switch to Daylight Saving Time had caused any significant increase in accident rates. Officials said it was really too early to measure the impact of the federally-mandated time change as it was frequently difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of many accidents. Year-round DST had gone into effect on Jan. 6 as an energy conservation measure. A recent survey of utility officials showed the intended effects of the switch so far had been very minor, with an electricity saving of less than one percent. Already legislation was under consideration in the U.S. Senate to end wintertime DST. Sponsors of the measure included Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan., who said preliminary figures from the Kansas City Power and Light Co. “revealed little early evidence” of energy savings from the time change.