Somerville Rd in Melbourne’s Sunshine West shut closed after massive arsenic spill

Emergency services have closed a major road in Melbourne after about a large volume of arsenic spilt from a truck.

Dozens of firefighters, police and paramedics were called to Somerville Rd in Sunshine West about 11.15am on Friday.

An estimated 100 litres of the highly toxic chemical spilt from a container on a truck and posed a risk of entering the storm water system, according to a Fire Rescue Victoria spokesman.

“Somerville Rd has been closed in both directions by Victoria Police and motorists are advised to avoid the area,” the spokesman said.

“Fire Rescue Victoria will remain on scene ensuring the product is safely removed from the roadway and prevented from entering the drains.”

One person was assessed at the scene by paramedics, an Ambulance Victoria spokeswoman said, with units remaining at the scene for “health monitoring”.

Arsenic is a highly toxic carcinogen, according to the World Health Organisation, and poses the greatest risk when in contaminated drinking water.