May 3, 2016 2 min read

WAYNESBURG – The water hauling company whose tanker crashed and rolled over last month on Route 18 in Franklin Township, spilling a small amount of production water into the ground, will not be cited by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

DEP spokesman John Poister said Tuesday that Interstate Trucking of Belle Vernon was able to minimize major damage to the environment following the April 17 crash near Pisgah Ridge Road.

Workers, along with emergency responders, were able to keep the brine water from reaching nearby Browns Creek, meaning a notice of violation from the DEP would not be required, Poister said.

About 150 gallons of brine water spilled from a vent hole in the tank, which disconnected from the rig from the impact of the crash, Poister said. The contaminated soil in a field below Route 18 was excavated and removed from the area in three dumpster loads, he said.

A DEP inspector went to the crash site the following day to investigator if there were any environmental impacts to nearby Browns Creek, which is a popular fishing spot for the area. Poister said the company was able to offload the remaining brine water from the crashed rig to another tanker truck.

“They did everything our inspector at the scene told them to do and wrapped it up quickly,” Poister said. “There was no sign of any distressed vegetation and nothing got into Browns Creek.”

The tanker was hauling brine water from one EQT natural gas drilling site in Greene County to another when the accident occurred, an EQT spokeswoman confirmed.

The driver was seriously injured and flown by medical helicopter to an area hospital for treatment. State police, who investigated the crash, have not released the driver’s identity or completed an accident report.