FOG BLOG N.B. LOG : CRASH NEAR FREDERICTON KILLS DRIVER AND PLUNGES SUV INTO SAINT JOHN RIVER!

Miramichi man, 37, killed as crash near Fredericton sends SUV into river, truck down embankment Both vehicles started leaking fuel into the river after the crash Wednesday in Douglas A crash between an SUV and a dump truck in Douglas on Wednesday afternoon killed a 37-year-old Miramichi man and sent both vehicles over an embankment toward the St. John River.

The SUV the deceased was driving ended up in the river, but the truck stayed onshore, police said.

The driver of the SUV died at the scene, and the driver of the dump truck was taken to hospital in Fredericton with injuries that were not life-threatening, said RCMP Cpl. Stephane Esculier.

The crash north of Fredericton closed Route 105 for several hours and caused fuel from the vehicles to seep into the river.

50-foot-long fuel slick

David McKinley, the assistant deputy fire chief in Fredericton, said crews had to take care of the occupants of the vehicles and stabilize the vehicles before dealing with the fuel, which meant an hour's delay in getting fuel absorbent booms into the river.

"We had probably anywhere up to 50 feet or even more, I suppose, of sheen in the water of the fuel … that was floating on top of the water," said McKinley.

"You could smell the fuel from the highway."

Both vehicles were leaking fuel, but McKinley said the dump truck had fuel in only one of its tanks and the hydraulic system was intact, minimizing any contamination potential.

He said the total fuel spillage for both vehicles combined was about 200 litres.

Release 'contained'

Dealing with the fuel slick was a challenge, McKinley said, but firefighters soaked up as much of it as they could.

When the two vehicles were pulled up to the road, the booms and pads were removed for disposal.

In an email to CBC News, Vicky Lutes, a spokesperson for the provincial environment department, said the release of fuel has been "contained."

"An environment inspector was on scene today and has completed a site assessment," Lutes said Thursday.

Michelle Gray, the acting dean of forestry and environmental management at UNB, said in an email that, while there could be impacts on organisms that interact directly with the fuel, impact on the whole should be "minimal."

"Two-hundred litres of gas/oil into a river or stream is far from ideal anytime anywhere, but with a large volume of water and moving river it will dissipate more quickly than if it was a lake or pond with stagnant or standing water," said Gray.