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DEP oversees stream cleanup

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection officials spent five hours on the scene of a dump truck crash Tuesday in Lower Towamensing Township.

A Harley Trucking LLC dump truck carrying Pennsylvania regulated fill rolled over into the Mill Creek on Forest Inn Road at Boyer Farm Road, spilling the entire load of fill.According to state police, the truck was driven by Ismael Regalon-Alena, 69, of Elizabeth, New Jersey.He lost control of the vehicle, police said, sending it into a guide rail and concrete wall before ending up partially in the creek.The truck was headed from Avondale Bay Communities in New Jersey to the “Northface Development” at the former New Jersey Zinc Company west plant in Palmerton.Schlier’s Towing was on scene to remove the truck from the river bank.According to DEP, some diesel fuel had spilled into the fast-moving creek and on the bank of the creek.“Some sheen was visible in the creek but no large quantity of fuel could be found,” Len Zelinka and Jonathan Ulanoski, DEP officials, wrote in their report.“The fuel loss was estimated to be 50 gallons from one saddle tank. Some hydraulic fluid spilled onto the roadway when the truck was being moved. The towing company cleaned up the hydraulic fluid spill.”The Aquashicola Fire Department and Carbon County Emergency Management Agency put a floating barrier into the stream.No downstream water supplies were identified.“The fuel was downstream very quickly after the incident,” the DEP report continued.ANCO environmental, the trucking company’s cleanup contractor from Berkeley Heights, placed more boom containment barriers into the creek.“ANCO removed the spilled fill from the bank of the creek and from the waterway early on Wednesday morning. They are planning on placing the material into a roll off container and disposing of the material,” DEP said.The cleanup contractor will need a permit from DEP waterways to remove the material from the creek and follow-up will be needed by Waste, Clean Water and Waterways programs.Aquashicola Fire Department, Palmerton EMS, and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission assisted police and DEP at the scene.Regalon-Alena was taken to Palmerton Hospital for treatment of minor injuries.A portion of Forest Inn Road remained closed late Wednesday afternoon.

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection officials spent five hours on the scene of a dump truck crash Tuesday in Lower Towamensing Township. A portion of the road remained closed Wednesday. COPYRIGHT LARRY NEFF/SPECIAL TO THE TIMES NEWS