Yukon's Pacesetter Petroleum has 3rd crash and fuel spill since June

Whitehorse-based Pacesetter Petroleum is sending equipment south on the Alaska Highway Thursday to begin cleaning up a fuel spill involving one of its trucks, the company's general manager says.

It's the company's third crash and spill on the Alaska Highway since last June.

This week's incident involved a truck going off the road early Wednesday morning, about 135 kilometres southeast of Watson Lake. Pacesetter's general manager, MarkLeBlanc,said the trucktowing two trailers filled up with about 55,000 litres of gasoline in Fort Nelson the daybefore.

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LeBlanc said the driver hit a patch of black ice, slid off the road and was able to keep the truck upright as it came to stop about 13 metres off the highway. The driver was not injured, he said.

Something punctured the underside of a tank resulting in the fuel leak.

A release from the B.C. government says the truck trailer had three compartments. Each holds about 4,500 litres and all 4,500 litres leaked out of the punctured compartment.

LeBlanc says Pacesetter has hired Castle Rock Construction to go to the scene and clean up the spill. He says much of the gas is still in the snow cover and he wants to get at it before it melts.

The B.C. government says it has not seen any evidence of the fuel reaching the Liard River about 30 metres away from the spill, but adds thatmost of the river is covered by ice.

The highway was closed for several hours Wednesday because of the risk of the gasoline catching fire. LeBlanc said the disabled truck was pumped out by a second truck and both were in Watson Lake by late Wednesday evening.

2 accidents last summer

Pacesetter trucks were involved in two other accidents in Yukon, last year.

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One of the company's trucks rolled over in Whitehorse at the intersection of the Alaska Highway and the North Klondike Highway last June, resulting in kilometres-long line ups while both roads were closed.

Then in August, a Pacesetter truck crashed on the Alaska Highway near the Rancheria lodge, again resulting in a leak and long lines of backed up traffic.

Pacesetter pleaded guilty to safety violations in both incidents.

LeBlanc said there were no violations in Wednesday's crash.

He can't explain why the company has had three crashes in a short period of time, butsaid Pacesetter has trucks on the Alaska Highway almost every day between Whitehorse and Fort Nelson.

"The average [number of crashes]is low, but so serious when it happens," because of what the trucks are carrying, said LeBlanc.