Motor Vehicle Incident Coal River

Disclaimer:

• Information provided is based on reports received by Emergency Management and Climate Readiness (EMCR)
• Information provided is considered to be current at the time of posting, but is subject to change

Incident description

Incident Date	July 22, 2026
Name	DGIR: 262753
Source	Transport Truck
Nearest Community	Coal River, B.C.
Spilled Content	Diesel
Who is involved	Ministry of Environment and Parks (ENV), Emergency Management and Climate Readiness (EMCR), Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), CANUTEC, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), Canadian Wildlife Service, Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship (WLRS), EFI, QM Environmental

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Response phase details

The responsible person or spiller is legally required to cleanup or manage the cleanup of a spill.

In incidents where the responsible person is unknown, unable or unwilling to manage the cleanup, the Ministry of Environment and Parks (ENV) may assume the role. 

The updates below reflect the ministry’s oversight of the spillers’ actions. Details describe the spill response phase only and not the complete lifecycle of the spill. Visit the 'More information' page for other reports. 

Updates are in reverse chronological order with the most recent at the top.

Industry-specific language may be explained in the Glossary of Terms (PDF, 106KB).

Most recent updates

July 31

Response contractors remain onsite and continue recovery and cleanup operations.

The contractors are determining how to best complete the cleanup around the local environment.

The contractors have provided an action plan for ENV review. ENV staff are reviewing the plan to ensure all future actions protect the local environment and achieve clean up goals.

The contractors are working on a before beginning work in wooded and wetland areas.

ENV staff will leave the site and continue to monitor operations remotely. Staff may return if conditions change.

As the situation has stabilized, no further updates are anticipated.

July 29

Operations to remove contaminated soil have expanded to forested areas where diesel has pooled.

A trench has been dug to protect the waterway from migrating diesel.

Diesel appears to be contained within the current recovery area. Currently, no impacts have been observed beyond the trench.

Soil and water samples have been collected to assess environmental impacts.

Biologists are on site to provide advice when working near sensitive habitat areas.

ENV continues to monitor response activities. ENV Response Officer and Recovery Specialist remain onsite.

Further updates will be provided as more information becomes available.

July 27

Response activities on site continue.

An ENV Response Officer and Recovery Specialist are onsite.

The transport truck, lead trailer and pup trailer have been removed from the site.

Operations are underway to remove contaminated soil. Work is ongoing to determinate the extent of impacts.

Wildlife monitoring, migratory bird surveys, and a wetlands assessment are underway to understand potential impacts of the spill.

ENV continues to monitor response activities.

Further updates will be made when more information is available.

July 23

A response contractor and an ENV Response Officer are onsite.

The transport truck, lead trailer and pup trailer are righted and awaiting removal from the site. The lead trailer tank is heavily damaged. It is assumed all its contents spilled. The pup trailer tank has an undetermined amount of fuel remaining.

Response activities onsite continue. Heavy equipment has mobilized to site for the excavation of contaminated material.

A qualified environmental consultant is being deployed to site to assess the impact of the spilled material.

An ENV Response Officer and Recovery Specialist continue to monitor response actions.

Further updates will be made when more information is available.

July 22

On July 22nd, the Ministry of Environment and Parks (ENV) received a report of a spill involving a motor vehicle incident on Highway 97, near Coal River, B.C.

Initial reports suggests a transport truck hauling diesel collided with a Bison on Highway 97. The truck went off road and ended up on it's side.

The reports suggest that the tanks are compromised and may be leaking. There is a waterway downslope from the truck, and is likely to be impacted if diesel is leaking.

The amount that has been spilled is unknown at this time. Based on the transport truck there is a potential for up to 50,000 Litres to be released.

The Ministry of Environment and Parks (ENV) is aware that a response contractor is on site.

An ENV Response Officer is currently being deployed to the incident site.

Further updates will be made when more information is available.