50,000 Pounds Of Garbage Spills In Hawleyville Rollover

By Andrew Gorosko

A tractor-trailer truck hauling a full load of household garbage through Hawleyville early on the morning of Wednesday, August 27, went out of control on Mt Pleasant Road, snapped a utility pole, rolled over, and then spilled an estimated 50,000 pounds of smelly garbage onto a lawn near Taunton Lane.

The truck driver, who was alone in the truck, received minor injuries.

The spectacular crash closed a long section of Mt Pleasant Road (Route 6) to through-traffic through the day. Police halted through-traffic on the section of Mt Pleasant Road between its intersections with Hawleyville Road and Pocono Road. One detour channeled traffic around the accident via Hawleyville Road, Old Hawleyville Road, and Pocono Road. Local traffic was allowed to use the closed section of Mt Pleasant Road, as was practical.

By 4 pm, alternating one-way traffic was passing through the area, as work crews were reinstalling fallen utility lines. The accident caused localized utility outages.

Police said they expected to restore two-way traffic by that evening.

The crash drew town police, Hawleyville firefighters, ambulance staffers, the state Department of Transportation, state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Fleet Environmental, the Connecticut Light and Power Company, telephone and cable television utilities, Hilario’s wrecking service, insurance investigators, onlookers, and the generally curious to the area to view, and unavoidably smell, the strewn, stinking wreckage.

DEP inspector Ken LeClerc said August 28 that fast action by firefighters prevented environmental damage from occurring. After the rollover, some toxic hydraulic fluid, battery acid, and motor oil leaked from the truck, which had come to rest next to a stormwater drainage catch basin. Firefighters contained those spilled fluids, Mr LeClerc said.

The truck’s diesel fuel tanks were drained of their contents before the vehicle was righted to prevent any diesel fuel spillage, he said.  

Throughout Wednesday, with temperatures rising well into the 80s, workmen handled the unpleasant task of packing tons of spilled garbage into large containers for shipment away from the accident scene.

Police Patrol Officer Steve Santucci, who investigated the crash, described the accident.

Tractor-trailer trucker Marcos Dasilva, 39, of Bridgeport was driving his own Freightliner tractor, which was hauling a Greensphere, Inc, trailer containing household garbage, from Danbury to Bridgeport.

At about 3:27 am, while traveling eastward on Mt Pleasant Road, a red, two-door auto entered the truck’s travel lane, causing Mr Dasilva to take evasive action near the intersection of Mt Pleasant Road and Old Bethel Road.

The truck then went out of control. Just after the truck passed the intersection of Mt Pleasant Road and Taunton Lane, it went off the right side of the road, struck and snapped a utility pole, and then rolled onto its left side, spilling its load of garbage onto a sloped lawn near the Family Counseling Center at 121 Mt Pleasant Road.

The truck and the other vehicle did not make contact, police said. The red vehicle did not stop.

The Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps transported Mr Dasilva to Danbury Hospital, where he was treated for minor injuries and then released, police said.

Hilario’s Service Center used at least three of its heavy wreckers to right the flipped truck before towing it away. The task of moving the flipped truck was complicated by the tons of garbage scattered in the area.

Officer Santucci said the accident is under investigation, adding that he expects to file charges against Mr Dasilva.