Traffic backed up at Redoubt Road on the Southern Motorway. Photo / NZTA
Motorists on Auckland's Southern Motorway have been urged to wash their vehicles after a truckload of untreated human waste spilled onto the road.
The truck collided with a car this morning on the Southern Motorway just south of Manurewa, and rolled onto its side.
The crash caused heavy traffic delays past Orams Rd as emergency crews tried to contain the waste, which was being transported from the Auckland Sewage Treatment Plant.
Northern Fire Service shift manager Paul Radden said firefighters initially thought the load was wet concrete. "It is untreated waste from the Auckland Treatment Plant."
Acting Auckland Highway manager Mieszko Iwaskow warned motorists who came into contact with the waste to be careful: "We'd hate for anyone's vehicle to be damaged by this effluent so our advice would be to use a garden hose to wash the paint and the undercarriage of your vehicle, and be careful not to use your bare hands."
A water tanker and sweeper truck have now removed the spilled effluent. All motorway lanes have reopened but traffic remains banked up.
Watercare spokesperson Rachel Hughes said there were no reports of accidents involving Watercare trucks or those of its contractors today.
"It doesn't appear to have anything to do with Watercare," she said.
It is the second truck crash to affect Auckland traffic today, with a truck and trailer toppling over in Sale St in central Auckland, spilling its load and rupturing its 300-litre diesel tank.
Auckland Transport said Sale St was closed and that the clean up would likely take some time.
Mr Radden said the truck on Sale St was carrying soil.
Firefighters were moving to prevent the fuel from entering waterways.
The load was being taken from a building site in Sale St.
Cordons are in place around the area and motorists should expect delays.
He was allowed to live there if he paid bills and did maintenance - but he didn't.