‘Thousands of litres’ of diesel spilled on Highway 97 near Toad River, claims government report

FORT NELSON, B.C. — Thousands of litres of diesel fuel was spilled onto the Alaska Highway in Monday morning’s fuel spill near Toad River, according to the provincial government.

The government’s Environmental Emergency Branch (EEB) has released a breakdown of the information it’s gathered regarding the incident so far.

According to the online notice, the spill occurred on the morning of Monday, April 7th, when a fuel tanker – allegedly from MFP Resources – was involved in a motor vehicle incident nearly 200 kilometres west of Fort Nelson.

“Reports indicate the rear tanker was compromised and an estimated 7,000-13,000 litres of diesel was released,” it reads.

An unknown amount of that diesel fuel also reportedly made its way into a small creek that discharges into the Toad River.

As of the latest update posted to the website, the highway has been bermed, absorbent booms have been placed in the creek to soak up fuel from the water and a vacuum truck is at the scene sucking up fuel from the roadway.

Workers from MFP Resources, Northern Rockies RCMP officers and firefighters are also reportedly at the scene assisting with the cleanup.

An environmental emergency response officer (ERO) is being sent to the area for an assessment.

In the meantime, the highway is open to single-lane alternating traffic as of the morning of Tuesday, April 8th.

Energeticcity.ca contacted MFP Resources for comment and did not immediately receive a response.