Check water after tanker spill

The Bay of Plenty Regional Council is advising residents with bores or water takes near Saturday's fuel tanker crash at Paengaroa to check for signs of contamination from the spill.

The McFall fuel tanker crashed at about 8.40am Saturday on Old Coach Rd, rupturing two fuel compartments and causing petrol and diesel to leak onto the road.

A map of where a tanker overturned, spilling fuel onto Old Coach Rd, on Saturday.

On Saturday morning, Maketu Fire Brigade chief fire officer Shane Beech told SunLive fuel was leaking from two ruptured sections of the fuel tank.

Northern Fire Communications shift manager Paul Raddon said that morning the fuel had been leaking into a nearby open drain and firefighters had plugged the drain to stop the fuel getting into the environment.

BOPRC acting team leader pollution prevention David Ede says about 9500 litres of diesel and 400 litres of petrol was spilt by the overturned tanker, with the amounts confirmed with the haulage company that owned the tanker.

'While there was no immediate contamination of the nearby waterway, due to the quick actions of the response team, the fuel which entered the roadside drain could have contaminated groundwater near Old Coach Rd and Maniatutu Rd, moving in a north to north-east direction towards the coast.”


The tanker, which overturned on Old Coach Road on Saturday. Photo: Ross Brown.

David says residents in this area should check for petrol films or odour in water bores or water takes – and if they think the water might be contaminated, they should call the regional council's Pollution Prevention Hotline 0800 884 883.

'If the water is used as a drinking water source, residents should notify Toi Te Ora Public Health on 0800 221 555,” says David.

'Council staff will continue to investigate any potential contamination of water supplies in the area, and will be sampling soil and streams that may be contaminated.”

Police are investigating the cause of the crash and the commercial vehicle investigation unit has been called.

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