Qld highway reopened after acid spill

A highway in northwest Queensland has reopened after a truck rolled and spilled 17,000 litres of sulfuric acid.

The Flinders Highway at Maxwelton, near Richmond, was closed on Monday afternoon to allow authorities to clean up the hazardous material.

The section of road, between the Hopevale and Nondas West turn-offs, reopened to traffic on Tuesday evening.

The truck was carrying three tanks of sulfuric acid when it rolled.

One leaked, prompting authorities to establish a 10km exclusion zone.

Recovery crews had to empty out all acid from the damaged tanks and separate them from the prime mover before the highway could be reopened.

The leak occurred just 100km from where an estimated 80,000 litres of sulfuric acid was spilt in a train derailment amid a drought-breaking deluge in late December.