This incident on state Route 7 closed the main artery through Wetzel County for over three hours Saturday.

The crash of a garbage truck May 22 closed state Rt. 7 at “Lasure Turn,” some eight miles from state Route 2, for more than three hours while crews removed fluids and debris and uprighted the overturned truck.

The driver of the truck was injured in the one-vehicle crash and transported to Wetzel County Hospital by Wetzel County EMS, but the full extent of her injuries was not completely known, according the New Martinsville Fire Chief Larry Couch. The truck was owned by Walls Sanitation of Blacksville and was on its way to the Wetzel County Landfill to be staged for unloading early Monday morning.

State police from the Hundred detachment responded to investigate the incident, in addition to an enforcement officer from the West Virginia Department of Transportation. Representatives of the West Virginia Department of Highways also responded to evaluate roadway and guardrail damage, as well as to evaluate the potential for environmental impact.

“We were quite fortunate on this particular incident,” said Couch. “There was no fuel leak and only a small amount of hydraulic fluid and some gear oil.”

The highway remained closed throughout the incident to limit tracking of the fluids on the notoriously dangerous section of roadway and to help facilitate the removal of the crashed truck.

Fire department personnel remained on scene until after 3 p.m.