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A fully laden diesel tanker rolled off the road near Westport this morning.
The Allied Petroleum tanker was taking 36,000 litres of fuel to Solid Energy's Stockton mine.
The tanker had pulled over to give way to a truck on a narrow hairpin corner on Millerton Road, 35km north-east of Westport, when the edge gave way and its trailer flipped down a steep bank.
The cab remained on the road and the middle-aged driver escaped with only minor injuries.
A witness, who declined to be named, said the driver was coherent and the only sign of injury was a cut to his head.
"He said he had driven the road heaps, without any issues. He seemed like a nice dude and wasn't angry or anything but he was a bit shaken."
Constable Sean Judd, of Westport police, said the response team had been prompt about stopping any pollution.
"They were very on to it. They had dug drains and had things in place to soak up any of the diesel, so it was done very well and there shouldn't be too many problems environmentally," he said.
- NZPA
