Copyright abc
A man has been freed from a truck more than six hours after it rolled over west of Cessnock, spilling 20,000 litres of seafood liquid product into a local creek bed. About 25 emergency services, including the State Emergency Service, NSW Rural Fire Service (NSWRFS) and NSW Ambulance, attended Putty Road at Putty about 9am on Sunday morning. "The driver was trapped in the cabin of the truck," Acting Superintendent NSWRFS Brad Brian said. After what was described as a "long extrication process", with the rescue plan requiring revisions, the driver believed to be in his 50s was released. He has been taken to John Hunter Hospital in a helicopter. "This has been an extremely diligent combined services effort to release this driver over approximately six-and-a-half hours," Acting Superintendent Brian said. Initial reports suggested the truck had been carrying off milk, but it was later confirmed the load was seafood liquid product "from the fish market". "This product is used as a fertiliser and it's being deemed as non-hazardous," Acting Superintendent Brian said. "Crews will work to render that area safe, it has been dammed and it is not spreading." Emergency services were waiting for the NSW Environment Protection Authority and local council to arrive on scene to investigate the spill. The trucking company, along with the relevant agencies, were expected to deal with the waste product, according to Acting Superintendent Brian. The clean up was set to take place on Monday.
