A tanker truck rolled on an icy road in Fairbanks yesterday and caused a fuel spill. Snow and freezing rain coated local roads, and there were numerous accidents across the region. Ashley Anderson with the State Department of Environmental Conservation says the driver of the Alaska Aerofuel truck lost control of the vehicle on a residential street off the Richardson Highway.
Anderson says an estimated 1,500-2,000 gallons of heating oil spilled. She says most of the fuel went onto pavement and into road side ditches, and a lot was cleaned up.
Anderson says teams used sawdust to absorb any remaining fuel. She estimates responders, including a city fire crew and borough hazmat team, collected about 1,000 gallons of the spilled fuel. She says none of the oil went into storm drains, but there is concern about fuel soaking into un-frozen ground. She says any contaminated soil will be excavated and hauled out for treatment.
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Dan Bross is a reporter at KUAC in Fairbanks.
