Cleanup of Buckeye Road in the wake of the Nov. 11 fatal accident is going to take some time, Upper Milford Township Manager Daniel DeLong told supervisors at their Nov. 15 meeting.

The state Department of Environmental Protection has jurisdiction over the cleanup and is removing all the soil from around the road to test for contamination by diesel fuel.

"The DEP has basically told PennDOT they don't care if the road is closed for two years," DeLong said.

Supervisors, however, said they want to get the road open as soon as possible for the sake of residents and businesses who are affected by the closing.

"I hope PennDOT and the DEP recognize the impact [of the detour] on businesses and residents," Supervisor Robert Sentner said.

Some 2,500 gallons of diesel fuel were spilled as a result of the accident, in which one person was killed.

The spilled fuel ran east along Buckeye Road for about 280 feet, according to a press release issued by the township, and about 400 feet along Tank Farm Road.

Supervisor George DeVault, who is also a member of the Vera Cruz Fire Department, said the response of emergency personnel to the accident was "superb. All the training and hazmat classes paid off."

As soon as emergency personnel got to the scene and "saw rivers of diesel fuel running down the road" they got to work on stemming the spill, just in time to keep it from running into the storm drains, he said.

Now the DEP is monitoring the cleanup process, which primarily consists of removing large quantities of potentially contaminated soil and testing it.

"They're digging everywhere there's spilled fuel," DeLong said.

Residential wells in the area have been tested for contamination, and the test results are to be distributed to residents as soon as they are available. Meanwhile, residents are advised to use their own judgment as to whether to use the water, but DeLong said contamination is unlikely because when diesel fuel reaches the water table it pools on top of the water, rather than seeping into it.

"We dodged a bullet," DeVault said, noting that if the truck involved in the accident had been carrying gasoline or propane gas, "we would still be recovering victims."

The township press release indicated Buckeye Road will remain closed at least until the Thanksgiving holiday and possibly longer. PennDOT has indicated it will try to improve the current detour routes.