An operation is underway to salvage up to 4000 litres of herbicide that spilled from a truck involved in a fatal crash on Friday.
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A B-Double, carrying the herbicide glyphosate, left the Hume Highway about 10 kilometres south of Tarcutta and crashed into a tree on January 29.
NSW Police said passersby and first responders treated the male driver, believed to have been aged in his 40s, but he sadly died at the scene.
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Police said the man was travelling north when his truck left the highway, rolled down an embankment and hit a tree before coming to a stop in Keajura creek.
A Fire and Rescue NSW hazmat operation got underway on Friday night to prevent contamination of the creek and salvage the herbicide.
FRNSW Acting Superintendent Rob Jansen said four of the truck's 30 1000 litre drums split in the crash, some of which spread into the waterway.
"The operation is still ongoing: transferring the product from damaged containers into new ones and processing them as they go," he said.
Mr Jansen said FRNSW crews installed containment booms in the creek on Friday night to control the glyphosate but confirmed some of the chemical had already spread.
"They'll be working with the NSW Environment Protection Authority who were taking some samples from the water downstream in the river. We'll be working with them to make sure it's cleaned to their satisfaction," he said.
The EPA is assisting and advising FRNSW with the clean-up of herbicide following the crash.
"The EPA is actively working with emergency services and the company to contain the spill, clean-up any herbicide and ensure that any waste is disposed of appropriately," a spokesman said.
The NSW Transport Workers' Union secretary has offered his sympathies to the family and friends of the truck driver.
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Richard Olsen said he couldn't comment further on the accident until he received more information from the police on the cause of the crash.
"But we always look out and ensure that companies and drivers are being treated in such a way that they don't cop the pressure to drive long hours," he said.
"The TWU would always be keen to ensure that drivers be aware of how they act around truck drivers, but before we make any other comment on the accident we'll wait for police to release what happened.
"Our biggest focus on the industry has always been around safety".
Police say the truck driver is yet to be formally identified, as investigations into the cause of the crash continue.
He is the third truck driver to die in 2021 in Australia and the first in NSW.
In 2020, eight truck drivers died on the road in NSW and 28 died across the country.
Catie McLeod
Catie is a reporter at The Daily Advertiser covering health and Wagga City Council. You can contact her on c.mcleod@dailyadvertiser.com.au or 0475 819 651.
Catie is a reporter at The Daily Advertiser covering health and Wagga City Council. You can contact her on c.mcleod@dailyadvertiser.com.au or 0475 819 651.
