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Epic traffic jam in Newburyport after I-95 tanker crash

E-mail|Link|Comments () July 6, 2009 04:19 PM

By Michaela Stanelun, Globe Correspondent, and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

A tanker truck lugging over 10,000 gallons of gasoline flipped in a four-vehicle crash this morning in Newburyport and spilled a substantial amount of fuel, closing Interstate 95 in both directions for hours and causing an epic traffic jam.

(MassHighway)

The southbound lanes of the interstate reopened just after 3:30 p.m., more than seven hours after the crash south of the Whittier Memorial Bridge, according to the Executive Office of Transportation. The left two northbound lanes were reopened shortly before 5 p.m. The breakdown lane and right travel lane on the northbound side will remain closed into the evening as repairs are done.

The back of the tanker ruptured when it tipped onto its side, but it was not immediately clear how much of the gasoline spilled.

Some of the fuel flowed through the drainage system into the Merrimack River, where a 25-foot Coast Guard boat was working with a boom to contain the spill. Heavy duty trucks worked to right the tanker, which splayed across three northbound lanes.

"This could take a very long time -- easily several hours -- to clean up," said Trooper Eric Benson, a State Police spokesman.

Two people were seriously hurt and at least eight more suffered lesser injuries, Benson said. Investigators are still trying to determine what caused the 9:17 a.m. crash, which appears to have occurred almost entirely in the northbound lanes. It involved the Freightliner gasoline tanker, a Honda Odyssey, a Toyota Corolla, and a Ford Expedition, which rolled over and ended up in the southbound lanes.

"We're still trying to piece everything together," Benson said.

Northbound traffic on I-95 has been stopped at Exit 56 and detoured onto Scotland Road in Newbury. Motorists are being directed to Parker Street to Graf Street to Low Street to Route 1, and then back to I-95 via Route 110 at Exit 58.

Ambulances took the victims hurt in the crash to Portsmouth Hospital in New Hampshire and Anna Jaques Hospital in Newburyport.