Carbon County officials are commending the response to a fuel spill last week that left 3,000 gallons of fuel oil and kerosene draining into soil and the Lehigh River in Mahoning Township.

On Thursday, as part of the hazardous response, the board of commissioners ratified a declaration of disaster emergency relative to the fuel delivery truck crash that occurred on Jan. 8 along Route 209 at the intersection with Beaver Street.

The board commended all involved with helping to turn a potential disaster into a manageable emergency.

The commissioners, in response to the crash, activated the contracted hazmat team, Rapid Response, to help emergency crews with the cleanup. This all could cost the county, Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein said, adding that at this time, they still aren’t sure who will be responsible for the cleanup bill.

The state Department of Environmental Protection and the Environmental Protection Agency were also called because of the fuel getting into the Lehigh River.

Remediation of the land at the bottom of Beaver Street, in front of a mobile home, has been taking place by EPA. Nothstein said the contamination of the soil there was at least 2½ feet deep.

The crash happened at approximately 8:54 a.m.

Mahoning Township police Chief Audie Mertz said last week that the driver from D & D Fuel, Dennis Ruch, 66, of Lehighton, lost control of the truck and rolled it onto its roof, landing in the intersection and dumping its load. Ruch was not injured in the crash.

The road was closed until the early evening hours as a result.