LITTLE MOUNTAIN, S.C. — A gasoline tanker truck that overturned on SC 202 near Little Mountain early this morning has been cleared and traffic is flowing once again as of 2:15 p.m. Residents in the area who were evacuated at the time of the accident are cleared to go home.
The Newberry County Sheriff's Office says the tanker was loaded with approximately 7,000 gallons of petroleum product, some of which has leaked into the environment. When the incident occurred, traffic was blocked along SC 202 between US 76 to I-26 in Newberry County.
Around 7:30 a.m. this morning, Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster said the fuel leak had been contained and clean up would take four to six hours. Emergency Services were waiting on crews to offload the truck and an environmental clean up company would handle the spill. An area about 1/4-mile surrounding the accident, involving about 10 homes, had been evacuated.
Power was temporarily out in the area surrounding Little Mountain as the truck hit a power pole when it went off the road.
The truck driver was injured and taken to a local hospital.
Motorists are asked to avoid the area.