Crews clean fuel spill from overturned tanker on Dempster Highway

Crews are cleaning up a fuel spill from a dieseltanker truck that overturned on the Dempster Highway, yesterday afternoon.

The incident happened at kilometre 382,about 13 kilometres north of Eagle Plains, Yukon.

The amount of diesel that spilled from the tankeris still being determined, but Yukon Environment saysit is"small and contained."

The department didn't know if there were any injuries associated with the accident. In a photo of the overturned tanker, the truck cab, where the driver sits,appears to be upright.

Eric Clement with Yukon Environment saysworkers from a highway grader camp in Eagle Plains responded quickly to the incident with a spill kit. An empty truck was used to store fuel that was pumped fromtheleaking compartment of the overturned tanker.

Clement didn't know the name of the company that owns the overturned truck,but said a companyrepresentative was expected to arrive at the site today.

According to Yukon 511, the Dempster Highway is closed between kilometre 369 and the Northwest Territories border at kilometre 465. Blowing snowiscontributing to the highway being impassable.

This is the second truck rollover on that road in recent months.A truck carrying 43,000 litres of propane rolled over on the Dempster Highway in December.