Truck Removing River Debris Overpowered, Pulled Into Ramapo

County work to remove storm debris from the Ramapo River was temporarily stalled Thursday evening when three trees in the river pulled a truck partially into the Ramapo.

The Bergen County Mosquito Commission was in the middle of a six-week river clean-up off Halifax Road Thursday when a truck attempting to remove three trees from the river was overpowered by their weight, Lt. Stuart Blank told Patch. The trees pulled the truck down a ten-foot embankment and partially into the river, Blank said.

Police, fire, and county hazmat officials responded to the scene to try to remove the truck from the river, and to clean up fuel that spilled into and near the water.

“It ended up being a very minimal amount of fuel,” that spilled, Blank said. “It was nothing that could cause damage to the environment.” The small spill was cleaned by the hazmat crew, he said.

Using its own equipment, the Mosquito Commission was able to retrieve the truck from the riverbank, Blank said.

The Commission members cut some branches and limbs, but as of Thursday night, the trees were still in the Ramapo.

“[The Commission] will be back [Friday],” Blank said. The crew is in Mahwah removing debris that gathered in the river during Hurricane Irene and Superstorm Sandy.

“They’ve really been helping out the township to help mitigate future flooding issues,” Blank said.