November 12, 2025 - State Loop 500 was the scene of a two-vehicle 18-wheeler crash which resulted in a large fuel spill on Monday, November 10, 2025, that required a HAZMAT team to address.
While the scene was being cleaned of hazardous materials, TxDOT had both ends of the roadway leading up to the crash scene blocked to traffic. Through the early morning hours Center Fire Department worked traffic control while Center Police Officers investigated the incident.
According to details released by the Center Police Department on Wednesday, November 12, sometime just before 12:51am a Peterbilt truck tractor owned by ES Express, LLC and driven by James Griffith, Jr., 65 of Pittsburgh was parked on the shoulder of SL 500 facing west. Griffith failed to yield right of way to oncoming traffic when entering the westbound traffic lane.
A Peterbilt truck tractor owned by Polk Oil Co. hauling fuel and driven by Samuel Rothfeld, 46, of Lufkin struck the rear of the trailer that the truck driven by Griffith was hauling and overcorrected left of center before leaving the eastbound lane and traveling onto the shoulder before turning over onto its right side facing west.
The tanker was hauling 7,000 gallons of fuel before the collision and Lone Star Hazmat Response was contacted to clean up the scene.
Rothfeld was transported by ambulance to Nacogdoches Medical Center for treatment and Griffith refused treatment at the scene.
Griffith was issued a citation for failure to yield right of way.
Center Police Department officers cleared the scene at 9:40am, Center Fire Department personnel cleared the scene at 10am and the HAZMAT crew remained at the location until the completed their clean up project.
November 10, 2025 - As of 2pm a Hazmat crew with Lone Star Hazmat Response continues to work at cleaning up the area and the roadway is down to one lane.
Drivers should continue to use caution when traveling through this area until cleanup has finished.
(7:18am) - State Loop 500 between US Highway 96 south and the Tyson Feedmill Road, around a quarter mile, is shut down due to a fuel spill November 10, 2025 as of 7:18am.
Drivers should consider using an alternate route until the scene is clear, as there is no access, and expect the roadway to remain closed until cleanup is finished.
