Two Sussex County men die after truck runs off bay-bridge tunnel

The driver of a tractor-trailer that ran off the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel July 27 was caught in a blinding rainstorm as he emerged from the tunnel just before the fatal crash, the owner of the trailer says.

“It sounds like the cell was right over the bridge when he came out of the tunnel,” said Bruce Blessing, owner of the trailer that went into the water.

The driver, Jervone Rakeem Hall, 33, of Bridgeville, was found July 29 about eight miles off Fisherman's Island by Virginia Marine Police. An obituary for Hall says he graduated from Indian River High School in 2002, and he joined the Marines in 2008. “Upon his discharge he returned to his career driving a truck, which was his dream,” the obituary read. A memorial will be held at 1 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 4, at Antioch AME Church, 194 Clayton Ave., Frankford.

A passenger in the truck, Christopher Fenner, 29, of Seaford was recovered from the tractor-trailer on July 28.

Blessing said Greenwood trucking company Rennie Hunt was hauling a load of mulch in a Blessing trailer when the crash happened. Rennie Hunt could not be reached for comment.

The tractor-trailer was 12 miles out on the southbound lanes of the bridge at 6:30 p.m. when the tractor-trailer collided with a van, said Thomas R. Anderson III, deputy director of operations and finance for the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.

The tractor-trailer drove over the west side of the southbound span between the North Channel Bridge and the northernmost island, Anderson said. At the time of the crash, he said, there was a posted speed limit of 35 mph due to heavy rains.

The four passengers in the van were treated and released at the scene.

Divers from Crofton Diving in Portsmouth, Va., began their search for the tractor-trailer at 6:30 a.m. July 28. Attempts to recover the vehicle started around 1:30 p.m. and were completed around 3:30 p.m., Anderson said.

CBBT Maintenance crews made emergency repairs to the bridge. Both southbound travel lanes were opened by 10 p.m. July 27. The shoulder lane at the scene of the accident will remain closed until permanent repairs can be made to extensive curb and guardrail damage, which will take several days, Anderson said.

CBBT Police continue to investigate the crash.

“The thoughts and prayers of everyone at the CBBT are with the family and loved ones of Mr. Hall and Mr. Fenner during this difficult time,” said Jeff Holland, executive director of the CBBT.

Hauling waste

Blessing said he owns 20 trailers. He said Rennie Hunt's insurance company is handling the accident claim, but he hopes to either get a new trailer or money to buy a new one.

Rennie Hunt has been hauling Blessing's trailers as a subcontractor for more than a year, Blessing said. Investigators say the trailer contained chicken by-products, but Blessing said it was carrying mulch. He said the trailers, however, do haul chicken eggshells and other chicken by-products. Blessing said he has been doing work for Mountaire hauling material off the poultry plant's site to out-of-state facilities.

“Yes that was my trailer, and he was one of my subcontractors, and he hauls everything from chicken by-products to topsoil,” he said.

Depending on where chicken by-products go, Blessing said, other material can be added. Lime is added for odor control if it goes to a landfill; if it goes to a compost company, he said, wood would be added. “We have a circle of people who will take the various waste streams in Delaware that ultimately Delaware has no place to handle,” he said.

For example, Blessing said eggshells are a good calcium source used by Virginia composters to boost their calcium layers.

“We haul all kinds of stuff. We don't wash those trailers all the time, so the trailer probably smelled,” he said. “We haul all the time to Virginia and North Carolina, and take the bridge-tunnel because it's the shortest trip.”

Blessing said his trailers also take material to Pennsylvania.

“We do more composting and more hauling than any other facility on the peninsula,” he said. “If we don't start handling some of this waste we have, these other states may not continue to take it.”

Blessing owns Blessing Greenhouses & Compost Facility Inc. near Prime Hook. Sussex County recently told him he could not accept any more compost material until he removes a required amount from his property.

Blessing said he is in the process of reaching an agreement with the county, and he hopes to build an enclosed operation.