BAR HARBOR, Maine — A trash disposal truck en route to Bar Harbor’s transfer station went off the road on Sunday and crashed into a small stream, injuring the driver and spilling diesel fuel into the water.
The incident happened around 8:45 a.m. on Great Meadow Drive. The truck apparently missed the entrance to a small bridge over Cromwell Harbor Brook, went through a guardrail, over a rock retaining wall and into the stream.
Bar Harbor fire and rescue crews extricated the driver from the truck and transported him to a local hospital for treatment. No information about the driver was available on Monday.
Assistant Fire Chief Matthew Bartlett said the truck’s fuel tank ruptured during the crash, causing an unknown amount of diesel to leak into Cromwell Brook. The fire department deployed booms as well as absorption pads in several locations below the bridge to attempt to capture the fuel.
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection also responded to the accident to assist with the diesel cleanup.
The booms were still in place Monday afternoon and there was a noticeable smell of fuel near the stream. The stream empties into the ocean about one-half mile below the crash site.
Those commercial dump trucks should be required to take their load to Southwest, not use the tiny transfer station there. Why should BH tax dollars subsidize Gott’s?
Why did they ever rebuild that bridge and make it more narrow than it already was? It was hazardous before but a least two vehicles could pass each other safely. Could it be the same people that designed the new traffic scheme in Ellsworth? Hmm…
In the photo, the bridge does look pretty narrow. The pedestrian bridge looks too narrow for 2 to pass comfortably as well.
Hahaha….not very familiar with “environmental” regulations are we?
good luck widening a bridge on the island….
My property runs from the bridge that was hit down along the brook, and the whole area still smells like diesel, there’s a lovely sheen on the water, My kid plays down there! better cleanup please!