A cleanup operation continues along the Richardson Highway south of Fairbanks, where a tanker trailer went off the road and leaked fuel. Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation on scene coordinator Tom DeRuyter said the Monday afternoon accident occurred near mile 306 at Birch Lake, when a truck operated by Big State Logistics lost one of 2 fuel tankers it was pulling.
“The trailer became disconnected and right now we don’t know why that happened,” DeRuyter said. “That’s a fairly unusual event.”
DeRuyter said the trailer did not cross traffic and no one was hurt in the accident. The overturned tanker was carrying 5 thousand gallons of fuel and DeRuyter says a significant amount of it spilled into the ditch on the opposite side of the highway from the lake.
“None of it is in the lake,” DeRuyter said. “There was some standing water in the ditch that had fuel on it and they were recovering that.”
DeRuyter said he expects the spill response to continue for at least a few more days, as fuel and contaminated soil are removed from the site. The DEC and Alaska State Troopers are investigating the incident.
Dan Bross is a reporter at KUAC in Fairbanks.
