By CHAT News Today

Alberta Environment investigating after fatal cattle liner crash into irrigation canal near Brooks

Jun 2, 2017 | 3:45 PM

BROOKS – One man and dozens of cattle are dead following an early Friday morning (June 2) collision near Brooks involving a loaded cattle liner.

At 4:00 a.m., a loaded cattle liner rolled into the Eastern District irrigation canal approximately 15 kilometres northwest of Brooks, along Highway 36. A small volume of diesel fuel has leaked from the fuel tanks of the vehicle and entered the canal.

The driver was killed during the collision. Approximately 40 cattle were killed or needed to be euthanzied on scene.

Brooks RCMP, firefighters and Volker Stevin responded to the incident. As of 1:30 p.m., Highway 36 is closed to allow the cattle and truck to be removed from the scene.

An Alberta Environment and Parks regional responder is on site and has assessed the response. Containment booms were deployed at the incident site and downstream for product collection. Vacuum trucks are also on scene to collect product at the containment points. The truck has been removed from the canal.

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Environment and Parks were initially concerned 400 litres of diesel fuel was released, but investigation determined a smaller volume of diesel was released. The exact amount was not known.

Some sheen was observed upon removal of the vehicle, believed to be oil from the engine. The front of the truck was heavily damaged in the impact.

All downstream users in the area were notified, including both agricultural users and acreage owners. Eastern Irrigation District has a Wildlife Habitat Specialist on site.

The response continues to focus on assessing the canal for product release and recovery. Planning has started to repair the canal bank, which was damaged during the collision. The Alberta Support & Emergency Response Team regional responder is assessing downstream of the incident. 

RCMP indicate alcohol and road conditions do not appear to be factors in the collision.