A transport truck carrying hazardous materials rolled over on Highway 401 in Whitby this morning, spilling the product into the shoulder and causing significant road closures.

The incident occurred around 5 a.m. in the westbound lane of the highway near Thickson Road.

Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said that the truck driver lost control and ended up on top of the concrete guiderail separating the eastbound and westbound lanes.

“The trailer was loaded with a chemical, which is actually quite hazardous,” he said. “Because some of that product has spilled out on to the highway, they have emergency cleanup crews right now trying to pick up that material and vacuum up all the catch basins and storm sewers.”

Schmidt said that the material was an oil-based “byproduct of manufacturing process” and can be dangerous if absorbed into the body.

“I’m told that if it is inhaled or ingested into your body it could be deadly, certainly going to cause you to be very sick,” he said.

“If you were actually to walk through the material, you want to have your boots burned and incinerated because you don’t want to have that contamination brought into your vehicle and tracked into your house and then if you touch it and touch your lips and it actually gets into your body, it can make you very sick.”

Schmidt said that paramedics and firefighters were monitoring the situation and every precaution was being taken to make sure crews working on the cleanup were safe.

He also said that crews had to drain the remaining contents of the transport truck before lifting it upright.

“They are scared if they try to lift up the trailer the whole trailer could actually be compromised and we could have a much bigger environmental spill than what we already do,” Schmidt said.

According to Schmidt, the transport truck was moved to the side of the road around 3:30 p.m., in order to be towed. He also said the OPP is working with the Ministry of Transportation and the public works department to ensure the hazardous material doesn’t leach into the environment.

The cause of the collision is not yet known.

The rollover blocked all lanes of traffic Tuesday morning and drivers were being diverted at Thickson Road.

One westbound lane and all eastbound lanes on Highway 401 have since reopened to drivers.