An oil tanker truck lost control and hit a tree before overturning on its side and splitting open while traveling on Kinoka Road near Bilek Road west of Kinmudy early Monday afternoon.
Kinmundy-Alma Fire Chief Kevin Day says most of the 191 barrels of crude oil in the tank spilled. Some of it ran into a nearby creek.
Day says the cab of the truck was not involved with the impact into the tree. The driver, who has not yet been identified by State Police, was taken to Salem Township Hospital where he was airlifted to a St. Louis hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. He was traveling westbound to dump his oil at Patoka at the time the crash occurred.
Day says in addition to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, four cleanup crews are currently working to vacuum the oil out of the creek.
The Kinoka Road was closed to traffic for about five hours after the crash was reported at 1:14 Monday afternoon. The Bilek Road has also reopened, but cleanup operations of skimming oil off the creek are expected to continue overnight.
Updated 9:15 pm Monday night.
