Days after a fuel tanker overturned and spilled about 5,000 gallons of gasoline on Highway 38, the mountain road near Big Bear Lake has been cleaned and reopened Monday, officials said.
The cleanup has been going more quickly than expected. Shortly after the Friday morning crash, officials estimated the highway could be closed for weeks, but on Monday they said weekend cleanup efforts were successful thanks to cooperation from five state and local agencies.
Some of the spilled fuel poured into Cold Creek, which feeds into the Santa Ana River. Crews dumped 5,000 gallons of clean water into the creek as part of the cleanup and testing has determined the creek water is safe.
"We've not seen one dead fish or one dead bird yet," said Andrew Hughen with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. "We're investigating, but so far it's looking really good."
The tanker truck overturned about 9:35 a.m. on Friday in the Angelus Oaks area, prompting a 3-mile closure (map).
View Highway 38 Closed After Tanker Spill in a larger map
