A Tampa, Florida, man died Wednesday after his semi-truck rolled over multiple times, leaking nearly 8,000 gallons of jet fuel during the accident, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
Shortly before 7 a.m., the 24-year-old man, who has not been identified pending his family’s notification, traveled north on U.S. Highway 301 near Waldo, Florida, when the truck rolled over multiple times, according to an FHP report.
As it overturned, the truck’s cab disconnected from the trailer, and the driver was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the report.
The semi-truck came to a rest on the northeast shoulder of the road, at which point the fuel it held leaked onto the highway and into a ditch, said Gus Olmos, the Alachua County Water Resources manager.
A vacuum truck was brought in Wednesday afternoon to clean up the fuel before workers excavate the area to remove contaminated soil and other materials, Olmos said.
He said it could take up to three days to clean the area. Once clean, the Alachua County Environmental Protection Department will need to take samples from the area to ensure it’s safe.
“It’s going to take a while to clean up,” Olmos said. “Eight thousand gallons — that’s a very large discharge, and it is unusual.”
