Fuel truck spill - Mile 543 Alaska Hwy

DISCLAIMER: Information provided is based on reports received by Emergency Management B.C. Information provided is considered to be current at the time of posting, but is subject to change as new information becomes available.

Incident Description

Incident Date	April 11, 2018
Name	Fuel truck spill - Mile 543 Alaska Hwy (DGIR: 180135)
Source	Transport Truck
Nearest Community	Watson Lake, Yukon
Spilled Content	Fuel (type unknown)
Who is involved?	Watson Lake Fire Department, BC Ministry of Environment & Climate Change Strategy, RCMP

 

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Response Phase Detail

The responsible person or spiller is legally required to clean-up or manage the clean-up of a spill. In incidents where the responsible person is unknown, unable or unwilling to manage the clean up, the Ministry of Environment & Climate Change Strategy (MOE) may assume the role. The updates below reflect the Ministry’s oversight of the spillers’ actions; details describe the spill response phase, only, and not the complete lifecycle of the spill. See More Information for other related reports. 

Updates are in reverse chronological order, with the most recent at the top. Industry-specific language may be explained in the Glossary of Terms (PDF).

Most Recent Update

April 12, 2018 - 3:00 pm

Response crews offloaded the remaining fuel from the transport truck during the night yesterday (April 11, 2018). The transport truck and trailer have been taken to Watson Lake, Yukon. 

The responsible person (spiller or owner of the product) hired Hemmera, an environmental consultant company, to aid in the spill response efforts. Hemmera is testing the soil around the incident site to determine the impacts of the fuel spill. 

Multi-agency coordination calls continue to take place to ensure that the response is coordinated and that stakeholders are kept aware. 

No further updates are expected unless the situation worsens. 

(Fuel truck and trailer in ditch - April 11, 2018)

(Fuel truck in ditch near Liard River - April 11, 2018)

 

April 11, 2018 - 3:57 pm

The responding EERO (Environmental Emergency Response Officer) attended the incident site and determined that one of the truck's two trailers was punctured. Each trailer has three fuel compartments that each hold approximately 4,500 L. Only one of these fuel compartments was punctured. The estimated fuel spilled to the environment is 4, 500 L. The spilled fuel appears to be contained to the soil. 

During the overflight, the EERO did not see any sheen on the Liard River. However, at the moment, there are only pockets of visible water due to ice cover on the river.

A multi-agency call will take place this evening to discuss future response plans.

The next update will be provided when new information is available. 

 

April 11, 2018 - 11:48 am

CORRECTION: The tanker truck has not overturned. In addition, the punctured tanker truck is 30 m away from the Liard River, not the 500 m that was initially reported. 

Local RCMP have arrived on site. The road has been closed and traffic is being diverted. The Watson Lake Fire Department's estimated time of arrival is 12:30 pm. 

The responsible person (spiller and/or owner of product) has deployed a pump truck to assist in the offload of the fuel. The pump truck's estimated time of arrival is also 12:30 pm. 

The responding Environmental Emergency Response Officer (EERO) will be conducting an overflight shortly. 

The next update will be provided as soon as more details are available. 

April 11, 2018 - 9:40 am

At approximately 1:00 am on April 11, 2018, a transport truck carrying about 55,000 L of fuel was reported to have overturned on Mile 543 of the Alaska Highway. At the time, no leak was reported. An update at 7:45 am from the RCMP stated that the load was leaking. 

The overturned transport truck is approximately 500 m from the Liard River. 

The responding EERO (Environmental Emergency Response Officer) with BC Ministry of Environment & Climate Change has reached out to the local Emergency Program Coordinator and to local First Nations to notify them of the incident. The EERO is currently preparing to conduct an overflight of the incident site.

Watson Lake Fire Department and local RCMP are enroute to the incident site.

Updates will continue to be provided until the situation stabilizes.