No serious negative effect expected from Awakino spill

Environment Waikato is not expecting any significant environmental impact as a result of a whey spill after a truck and trailer unit left the road and crashed into the Awakino River this morning.

Initial reports suggested diesel and whey were leaking from the vehicle into the river, which is in the south-west corner of the regional council’s area.

But an EW staff inspection showed only a relatively small amount of whey (1500 to 2000 litres) had entered the river. It turned out no diesel was spilt.

Duty manager Rob Dragten said the spilt whey was not expected to significantly damage the environment.

“We can expect any whey that got into the river in these circumstances to be diluted reasonably easily and cause no ongoing problems.”