Driver of Dalton Highway Commercial Tanker Accident Dies at Scene, Cleanup of Spill Continues

Photo: Location of commercial tanker accident on Dalton Highway. Image-ADEC

A commercial driver of a tanker truck at mile 36 of the Dalton Highway 40 miles north of Livengood was killed in a rollover on Monday and his passenger was injured according to AST.

Troopers responded to the crash site via Helo-5 at approximately 3:30 pm on Monday to conduct an investigation into the fatal crash to find that the commercial tanker had drifted to the edge of the road and the tires on the passenger side left the roadway causing the tanker to roll.

The driver, identified as 60-year-old Delta Junction resident Richard Allen Flansberg, was declared deceased at the scene. He was not wearing his seatbelt at the time of the incident.

The lone passenger in the vehicle, 60-year-old Anchorage resident Larry Bloodworth “was transported by Alyeska Pipeline Service to the company’s medical facility at Pump Station 6,” troopers reported.


Approximately 2,000 gallons of the 9,500 gallons of diesel fuel aboard the tanker was spilled. 

AST reported the spill to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation who responded to document and monitor the situation. 

Big State Logistics also arrived at the scene to begin cleanup with absorbent materials, but most of the diesel had migrated “into the surface and subsurface soils,” ADEC reports. ADEC’s Situation reports that ” ADEC will continue to monitor the response actions and review plans being developed to clean up contaminated material at the site.”

The AST investigation suggests high speed and road conditions were contributing factors in the crash.

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