Oil spills after tanker truck rolls in Beacon Falls

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Workers clean up at the scene of an accident on Blackberry Hill Road in Beacon Falls Thursday afternoon. The tanker trucked pictured rolled over and about 400 gallons of oil spilled out of it. –ELIO GUGLIOTTI

BEACON FALLS — A tanker truck rolled onto its side on Blackberry Hill Road early this afternoon spilling hundreds of gallons of heating oil.

Beacon Hose Company No. 1 Fire Chief Brian DeGeorge said the truck was on Blackberry Hill Road heading toward Route 42 at about 12:45 p.m. when the driver lost control. The truck rolled onto the driver’s side and slid close to the intersection with Route 42, he said.

DeGeorge said the driver, a man, was out of the Apple Oil Co. truck by the time emergency personnel responded. He was assessed on the scene by emergency responders and didn’t suffer any series injuries, he said.

DeGeorge said the truck was carrying about 1,600 gallons of oil at the time of the accident. He said the back of the tank ruptured in a spot where first responders couldn’t reach to plug the leak. He estimated about 400 gallons of oil spilled.

DeGeorge said Beacon Hose contained the spill as best as it could at first with the resources available. Some oil got into a nearby storm drain, he said, but it was stopped before it slipped any further into the storm water system or any watercourse.

The accident occurred close to a brook. As a precaution, firefighters set up a boom in the brook.

DeGeorge said the town public works crew dropped off sand to help contain the spill, and officials contacted the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

‘We notified DEEP right away,” DeGeorge said. “The DEEP response was phenomenally fast.”

Workers used Speedy Dry to soak up the rest of the oil. Workers pumped out the remaining contents of the oil tank and the truck’s fuel tank before righting it again.

The road was closed for several hours Thursday as workers cleaned up the spill. State police are investigating the accident.