The cleanup of 7000 litres of oil sludge is continuing today after it leaked from a tanker that crashed in Te Puna yesterday afternoon.

Te Puna Station Road, where the crash occurred, remains closed until at least midday.

Emergency services worked quickly after the crash to build an earth bund so the 7000 litres of leak oil sludge would not flow into the ocean.

The Transpacific Industries tanker was heading to Mount Maunganui when it rolled off the road shortly after 2pm Tuesday.

A 60 year old woman driving the vehicle was taken to Tauranga Hospital with moderate injuries. She was treated and discharged later that day.

The tanker was carrying a total of 23,000 litres of oil sludge.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council says about 7000 litres of that has leaked into a nearby water drain that runs into the ocean.

Regional council staff are assessing the scene and deciding what further steps to take.

The tanker was removed last night, but the road will remain closed until the leaked sludge is completely removed.

The council's group manager water management Eddie Grogan says the 7000 litres spilt into an irrigation drain on the roadside, but only 55 metres of the drain was affected.

Emergency services worked quickly after the crash to build an earth bund in the drain to stop sludge flowing into the ocean.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council staff and a large team from Transpacific Industries is at the scene today.

Transpacific Industries New Zealand managing director Tom Nickels says about six of their vehicles are at the scene.

Three of those are large vacuum loading trucks being used to remove oil from the drain and surrounding area.

The tanker was heading to a processing plant in Mount Maunganui when it crashed.

'When these things happen the first concern is always for people, so the first question is ‘how is the driver?'

'The early information was that she was not badly hurt.”

Tom describes the woman as an 'experienced” driver who has been with the company for four months.

He believes the cleanup may not be complete until the end of Wednesday.

When emergency services worked to build the earth bund soon after the crash, a large bulldozer from a neighbouring property was used.

The heavy bulldozer caused damage to a section of Te Puna Station Road, including underground water pipes.

Te Puna Station Road resident Larry Williams says water supply to his home was cut for about two hours.

Inroads spokesperson Anne Michel says the repairs required on the damaged road and pipes may lengthen the closure period.