On March 6th, 2020, Sometimes we don’t know how extensive an accident is until we arrive on the scene. With this incident, a dump truck had landed itself in the ditch. We received a dispatch for truck accident recovery and provided a quote to the customer based on the images we had received. He declined but called back later in the day, asking for one of our trucks to come out to help with a straight and forced winch extraction.
When Team Pro-Tow arrived on the scene, we discovered an incredible fuel spill had occurred from the accident. We estimate around 50 gallons of fuel on the ground with considerable groundwater contamination. This truck accident recovery was a job for Pro-Enviro Spill Response. We were not prepared at the moment to safely handle the truck accident recovery properly.
Team Pro Enviro To The Rescue
The next day, we got the call to come to clean up the mess, and we went prepared with Pro-Enviro’s full spill recovery and response equipment and supplies. We also needed some heavy-duty machinery to deal with the ditched dump truck. That included a heavy-duty crane wrecker, recovery wrecker, recovery support vehicle, and all the trained operators to get the job done.
On the scene, we saw that the client had vacuum trucks already working on the initial clean up stages. Once that was complete, we accessed the incident and came up with a plan for spill recovery and truck accident recovery. Once our cranes performed an overhead lift of the dump truck to get it back on the road, we got to work cleaning up the spilled fuel.
Fixed The Leaky Tank
Because of regulations and a general concern for safety and the environment, we could not transport the damaged dump truck before fixing the leak in the fuel tank. We were able to give it a temporary fix to keep it from dripping fuel on the route. Then we took it to a secured storage yard and installed a portable parking stall containment berm to prevent any potential leaks from contaminating the area.
The Faster the Response, the Better
When there is a fuel or oil leak involved, the faster you can get a spill recovery team on the scene, the better. In this case, it took several calls and visits before the proper truck accident recovery team and equipment arrived to help. In the meantime, spilled fuel continued to spread and contaminate the area around the accident. The more extensive the spill, the more expensive the cleanup. Remember, the cleanup and cost is the responsibility of the truck company in the accident.
Keep Team Pro-Tow and Pro-Enviro in your speed dial! 253-245-5454
