LAKE HELEN — Ontario Provincial Police have charged a 38 year-old driver from Montreal with careless driving after a transport left the roadway, crashed through a guard rail and landed on the ice of Lake Helen Thursday evening.
Ontario 511 notifications showed that the crash site was on Highway 11, about seven kilometres north of the turnoff from Highway 17.
Police told Newswatch that the incident happened just before 7 p.m., and that the highway was closed for just shy of two hours.
A police spokesperson said that there were no injuries and a local towing company was called in to remove the vehicle.
According to police, the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks was called in due to a fuel leak from the truck.
The ministry told Newswatch in an email that its Spills Action Centre was notified about the incident that evening. According to the ministry, one of the vehicle’s fuel tanks suffered minor damage, causing a slow leak of approximately 10 litres of diesel fuel onto the frozen lake.
"The fuel was contained and considering the ice conditions (approximately two feet of ice) and the small spill, we do not anticipate any environmental impacts," a spokesperson said.
"The ministry will require the trucking company to retain the services of an environmental consultant and undertake appropriate remediation of the spill site. The ministry will also require updates from the environmental consultant until all remediation activities are complete."
