Milk tanker crashes, milk leaks into paddock

The cab of a Fonterra milk tanker which crashed and spilt milk into a paddock just north of Woodville in the early hours of yesterday morning. The trailer has already been moved

A Fonterra milk tanker driver was uninjured when his truck and trailer crashed off the road near Woodville this morning.

The tanker, on it's side, was leaking milk into a paddock and police were called to the scene at approximately 3.13am.

Fonterra's external communications manager Connie Buchanan said the tanker was carrying a full load, all of which spilled into a paddock.

However, Robert Rose, Horizons Regional Council's consents monitoring officer, has told the Dannevirke News the spilt milk didn't get into any waterways.

"It's a good thing," he said.

"One issue with milk is it's high sugar levels and if it does get into waterways it can cause issues and although the recovery process is still underway, it's unlikely any milk will make it into waterways. So we're relatively comfortable with the situation and we don't have any environmental concerns."

Mr Rose said he didn't think there would be odour problems with the spilt milk either.

The tanker crashed on State Highway 2, in an area known to locals as the Woodville straight and although one lane of the road was open, it closed, with diversions in place when a tow truck began removing the trailer unit of the tanker at 6.30am.

A police spokesperson told the Dannevirke News, it was likely to take some hours to clear the road, but a northern diversion along Bowen Rd and south along Priest Rd were available.

Police said the road will remain closed until both the truck and trailer were removed. There are no indications what caused the accident, with the investigation still in its early stages.