Thursday, February 26, 2015

4,000 GALLONS OF DIESEL OIL SPILLED IN DALTON HIGHWAY CRASH OF A COLVILLE, INC. TANKER




FEBRUARY 26, 2015

FAIRBANKS, ALASKA

A tractor-trailer hauling diesel fuel north from Fairbanks overturned near mile 86 of the Dalton Highway, according to a situation report from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, spilling an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 gallons of the fuel.

That figure came from Colville, Inc., the truck’s operator, DEC said. The accident was reported to the agency at 11:18 a.m. Wednesday. DEC said it didn’t yet know when the accident occurred.

The tractor-trailer “lost traction and slid backward off the roadway and rolled in to a ditch,” the DEC release said. “The rear compartment of the trailer ruptured when hitting a tree stump.”

The situation report contained no information about injuries.

The site of the accident is about 30 miles north of where the haul road crosses the Yukon River.

Colville sent a team to respond to the spill, DEC said.

DEC spokesman Tom DeRuyter said there weren’t any apparent serious injuries from the wreck.

“The driver had a few bumps, and is going to be checked out at a hospital,” DeRuyter said.


Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman Beth Ipsen said troopers didn’t respond to the crash because the tractor-trailer was already off the road by the time it was reported.

Colville, an Arctic logistics firm, estimated to DEC that between 3,000 and 4,000 gallons of ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel were spilled in the crash. The company hired Emerald Services (Alaska) Inc. to clean up the spill, with a vacuum truck, tow truck and empty tanker-trailer sent to the scene.

“They’ve removed the truck from the ditch,” DeRuyter said. “They’ve pumped out the fuel from the truck, and it will get metered at a later time.”

According to DeRuyter, further work is ongoing to plan and formulate a full response to the incident.

SOURCE: Alaska Dispatch News and www.ktuu.com