All westbound lanes of Highway 401 in Tilbury, Ont. have reopened following a fuel spill.
All westbound lanes between Exit 56 Essex County Road 42 and Exit 48 Highway 77 (Comber Side Road) were closed for about 17 hours.
Around 3 a.m. Sunday morning, police received reports of the rollover in Tilbury. According to the Ministry of Environment, Conservation, and Parks, two transport trucks collided on Highway 401 and County Road 42, resulting in a punctured tank.
Around 53,000 litres of fuel spilled into a nearby ditch.
No injuries were sustained and the spill was contained with booms and dams.
The Ministry of Environment and other cleanup crews were scene.
In a statement to CTV News, the ministry said there has been some impact to the nearby Baptiste Creek waterway.
“Ministry staff attended the site to coordinate efforts for containment and clean-up. A clean-up contractor has been engaged and absorbent booms have been deployed to contain the spill. MTO has bermed off the impacted culvert which leads to the creek to mitigate impacts.
MECP has reached out to Lakeshore Public Works and confirmed that Drinking Water Systems in the vicinity are aware of the spill and monitoring in relation to. water intake.
The ministry will continue to monitor the situation to assess cleanup efforts."
Vacuum trucks removed the liquid that was caught in containment. Impacted soil will be removed and disposed.
The Ministry said staff are back on site to check downstream locations to ensure proper cleanup is done.
ALL westbound lanes of #Hwy401 are now OPEN between County Road 42 and #Hwy77 (Comber Side Road) west of #Tilbury. Approximately 20 thousand litres of fuel spilled after a fuel tanker rolled over. No injuries were reported. Investigation ongoing . @EssexCountyON #WROPP ^es pic.twitter.com/B8ZOKzGzaN
— OPP West Region (@OPP_WR) March 31, 2025
