A tanker lorry tipped over at an airport fuel depot; 15,000 l of kerosene (A1 jet fuel) poured through the damaged manhole. In trying to avoid a kerb, the driver braked suddenly which caused the additional trailer to tip over. As it fell, it hit a refuelling pipe. The driver switched off his lorry’s electrical circuits, then raised the alarm. The airport’s fire and rescue services (fire-fighters) spread 6,000 l of foam (water + foam concentrate). The spilled kerosene flowed into the network (drains, pipes, sludge/oil remover). As these devices were saturated, the fuel flowed into the ditch acting as a stormwater outfall. An earth plug was created at the end of the ditch to contain the pollution. There were no direct flows into any watercourses. A specialist company pumped the pollutant out of the ditch and removed the polluted soil. As a safety precaution, the closest drinking water abstraction point was closed, as the supply had been switched over. The cost of the accident was assessed at €250,000. A containment basin will need to be installed.