Yellowknife (Feb 17/06) - An overturned diesel truck which spilled fuel on Highway 4 last Sunday afternoon resulted in minimal environmental damage, said the manager of environmental protection for the NWT.

"It was a very small volume, only 20 litres," Ken Hall said of the amount of the spill.

Most of the spill ended up in the snow away from any water sources, Hall said.

"The clean-up involved removing approximately three drums of contaminated snow."

Once the snow melts in the spring, there will be a follow-up to ensure no traces of the petroleum remain.

First on the scene was Yellowknife resident Dave Sundberg, who was driving along the highway on the way to help his brother.

He estimates about 100 litres of fuel spilled out of the truck.

Sundberg says he happened upon the large diesel tanker tipped over on its side near the ditch, with the driver standing nearby.

"There was fuel spilling out of it from two of the top hatches in the fuel truck," Sundberg said.

"It was leaking onto the ground."

The truck was owned by ARS Trucking.

"They had their own people coming to fix it, but we did some interim fixes to catch as much fuel as possible," he said. Sundberg said the two went to work controlling one hatch with absorbent pads.

"The back hatch was a steady stream of fuel, so we pulled the tarp off the truck and made a catch-all to catch all the fuel," Sundberg said.

Sundberg said he was on the scene for about four hours. He later brought the driver to the hospital with a sore shoulder.

Calls were made for someone to respond with a spill trailer. Sundberg said the Department of Transportation was also called to the scene.

Bob Kelly, spokesperson with the Department of Transportation, said he had been told a fuel spill did not occur, but referred questions to Environment and Natural Resources, which is ultimately responsible for fuel spills.

Sundberg said speed was not likely a factor, as the truck did not skid into the ditch, but merely stopped.

Eric Madsen of the Joint Management Committee on winter roads for Diavik said the incident was relatively minor. "It happened at kilometre 55, north of the Cameron River," Madsen said.

Ultimately, it is the company itself that is responsible for dealing with such spills.

"And if there was a large spill, it would have to be reported to the NWT Spill report line," he said in reference to the 24-hour hotline.