A truck driver for Xpress Natural Gas has been ticketed following a rollover crash on State Route 28 in Schuyler Lake on Wednesday that caused the road to be closed for 12 hours.
New York State Police say around 3 p.m. Wednesday, a 2017 Freightliner owned by XNG was being driven northbound on State Route 28 in Schuyler Lake when the trailer it was towing, which was fully loaded with natural gas, drifted off the right shoulder of the road.
The XNG driver was unable to keep the trailer on the road, which caused the truck to overturn as it drove through the embankment along the east shoulder of the road, then came to a rest in an open field.
The XNG driver, who was uninjured in the crash, was ticketed for moving from a lane unsafely.
The natural gas tanks inside the trailer were not ruptured in the crash, and a controlled release of the natural gas was supervised by New York State Fire personnel.
Christine Allen, who lives in the town of Exeter, told AllOtsego.com that she was finally able to get to her home late Wednesday evening when first responders let her through. She says when the crews released the gas from the trailer, she heard a loud noise.
“I swear, it sounded like five freight trains coming through,” Allen told AllOtsego.com. “We didn’t know what the noise was. I figured we needed to get out of there. I felt like something was going to blow.”
State Route 28 was closed between county routes 22 and 16 until 3:24 a.m. on Thursday.
XNG issued the following statement on Thursday morning in response to the crash:
"Yesterday (Wednesday, July 11, 2018), an XNG truck left the pavement on Route 28, just north of Schuyler Lake.
XNG employs state-of-the-art monitoring systems and has already determined that the truck was going below the speed limit at the time of the accident. The vehicle’s safety systems operated as they should and there have been no injuries reported at this time.
XNG is grateful for the quick and professional response of local and New York State emergency responders. We are working cooperatively with them to help ensure that there is no danger to the community or the environment.
As always, we will use this incident to learn about our processes and procedures and to make any needed adjustments to help improve our strong safety record. Again, we are thankful to the local emergency responders who have helped us in response to this event.”
