A tanker truck carrying approximately 8,500 gallons of fuel overturned at a Dacula intersection Tuesday morning, March 2.
The rollover occurred at the intersection of Braselton Highway NE and Hamilton Mill Parkway NE, where about 3,000 gallons of fuel leaked into a storm drain before the spill could be contained in a nearby pond at the Hamilton Mill Golf Club. The Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources worked with a cleanup crew and the United States Environmental Protection Agency to determine the safest and most efficient way to remove the fuel from the pond and storm drain. The Gwinnett Department of Transportation assisted with absorbent products and strategies to clean the roadways.
Braselton Highway and Hamilton Mill Parkway was shut down from the Interstate 85 overpass, and firefighters evacuated three businesses within the area for precautionary reasons, including the Discovery Point Daycare, QuikTrip and BP gas station. Crews did not allow access to the PNC Bank next to the QuikTrip.
Approximately 5,500 gallons of fuel remaining in the overturned tanker was transferred to an offloading truck. Five holes were drilled in different locations on the tanker and used as access points to siphon the fuel. At about 4 p.m., the tanker was still overturned with Willard Wrecker Service waiting with two heavy duty wrecker tow trucks in preparation to turn it upright for removal.
The intersection was reopened about 5:43 p.m.
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