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A Fonterra milk tanker carrying thousands of litres of fresh milk crashed yesterday morning injuring the driver and spilling its contents.
The accident happened at about 11.30 on SH17 between Albany and Silverdale.
Local Luke Prangely was alerted to the crash when he heard the wire strands of his fencing ping as it was broken by the truck taking it down.
"Then I heard a huge crash and came running out," he said. His house is set well back from the crash site.
"When I got to the scene the driver was climbing out of his cab and started to check his paperwork - he was clearly in shock."
The tanker had apparently slipped off the road and into an open drain. The vehicle continued along until it hit a concrete driveway - the entrance to Prangleys' house - and then flipped or rolled at least once until it came to rest.
A police officer at the scene said the driver was attended to by ambulance staff. He said the driver seemed to have just minor injuries, was suffering from shock and would be taken to hospital for a thorough examination.
A heavy crane unit was called to remove the milk tanker, and the Auckland Regional Council environmental response team also attended.
Pollution response officer Nigel Clark said the spill was pretty well contained in a small area and had luckily not entered any flowing water.
Mr Clark said a vacuum truck would suck all the water from the nearby pond and some of the contaminated soil would probably have to be removed.
He said spilt milk is a major problem as it uses all the oxygen in the water, killing anything that lives there.
