FALMOUTH — Hundreds of gallons of kerosene spilled into the Presumpscot River Thursday afternoon when a Dead River Oil delivery truck overturned on Allen Avenue Extension in Falmouth.

The kerosene was carried by the outgoing tide toward the mouth of the Presumpscot, which is bordered on the north side by the Gilsland Farm Audubon Center.

The truck driver was taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland with injuries, but they were not thought to be life-threatening, said Fire Chief Howard Rice.
Witnesses told police that the truck was going at or below the posted speed limit, police said. The driver’s identity was not immediately available.

The truck was headed west at 4:20 p.m. when the driver lost control on ice on the Allen Avenue Extension bridge. The truck crashed into a guardrail and rolled over. The impact sent one of its axles tumbling to the riverbank and left a large gash in one side of the tank, police and environmental said.

The truck was loaded with about 1,700 gallons and little was recovered, officials said.

The Coast Guard strung absorbent buoys across the river at the Middle Road bridge, where there was a strong odor of petroleum. Some of the spilled fuel had already passed beyond the Interstate 295 bridge into the bay at the mouth of the river, environmental officials said.