A fully-laden semi-trailer nearly ended up in the drink last night after mistaking a narrow service road near the Nambucca Heads servo for the entrance on to the highway.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Emergency Services received the call at 7.15pm last night.
Luckily the driver was unhurt, but the Nambucca Heads Fire and Rescue crew had to work through the night and well into the morning to decant contaminants from the nearby creek.
“There were major leaks of hydraulic and diesel fluids into Cow Creek,” Deputy Captain Ricky Forbes said.
Up to 150L of diesel and 60-80L of hydraulic fluid washed into the waterway.
The driver took the Corkwood Rd turn-off after exiting the service centre, and left the road completely where the road turns into Red Ash Rd, after Boggy Creek Rd, before coming to rest in a drain.
“We had to wait for a big crane and towing truck to come down from Coffs Harbour to get the prime mover and trailer up onto the road,” Deputy Captain Forbes said.
RFS crews assisted Fire and Rescue and Hazmat 257 from Coffs Harbour to contain the fluids from the crash.
“We used an absorbent boom which stretched across the waterway to limit spread of the spill,” Deputy Captain Forbes said.
“Then we used a pump system that decants and removes contaminants from the waterway.”
A final “suck truck” was brought down from Coffs Harbour to try to capture the remnants.
Mel Leigh Dee
Mel is a journalist at the Guardian News and is based in Macksville.
Mel is a journalist at the Guardian News and is based in Macksville.
