A tanker truck flipped on the Alaska Highway April 8, spilling about 15,000 litres of diesel fuel onto the frozen McDonald River.
The accident happened 14 kilometres south of Toad River, British Columbia.
The driver, who was transporting fuel for Alberta Fuel Distributors, was heading north when his truck went into the ditch.
The driver was coming around a blind curve and narrowly missed hitting another transport truck, said Terry Sawchuk, an emergency response officer with British Columbia’s Ministry of Environment.
The cab of the truck was crushed on impact. The driver wasn’t hurt and walked away from the accident.
The fuel spilled on a patch of ice adjacent to the river.
“We were lucky that the fuel landed on ice and not any dirt or soil or the river,” said Sawchuk.
An emergency crew spent two days cleaning up the mess.
Farm tractors were brought in to scrape the top layers of snow and ice free of diesel. Sawdust was thrown overtop and a grader cleared the area back down to ice, he said.
“The clean up went really well, we got close to 100 per cent of the fuel out of the area.”
Nearby residents will continue inspecting the area for any diesel as the snow thaws, said Sawchuk.