Tractor trailer rolls over, spills fuel in Manhasset

Luke Torrance
The overturned trailer on New Hyde Park Road. (Courtesy of Manhasset-Lakeville Volunteer Fire Department Facebook page)

A tractor-trailer overturned on Monday morning in North Hills, spilling fuel and causing minor injuries to the driver, according to an official with the Nassau County Fire Marshal’s office.

The accident occurred shortly before 10 a.m. on New Hyde Park Road.

The truck was turning left off of North Service Road to cross the bridge over the Long Island Expressway. He cut the turn too quickly, said Assistant Chief Fire Marshal Mike Uttaro, and ended up tipping over.

The truck was carrying sand, but officials were most concerned about the truck’s saddle tanks, which began to leak diesel fuel. The Manhasset-Lakeville Fire Department was the first to respond with two rescue trucks and an ambulance.

The responders used sand from the truck to put sandbags around storm drains, preventing the diesel fuel from reaching them.

“That was some good ingenuity from them,” Uttaro said.

Officials from the state Department of Environmental Conservation soon arrived to make sure the spill was properly clean, and a hazmat response truck arrived from the county. According to Uttaro, it took about three hours to get the area cleaned and the truck upright and moved.

Reach reporter Luke Torrance by email at ltorrance@theislandnow.com, by phone at 516-307-1045, ext. 214, or follow him on Twitter @LukeATorrance.

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