< Back to front page Text size – +

Ramp from Route 128 to I-95 North will be closed for evening commute

Print | Comments () Posted by Andrew Ryan, Globe Metro Desk March 9, 2011 05:13 PM

Tweet
E-mail

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff, and Katherine Landergan, Globe Correspondent

The northbound ramp between Route 128 and Interstate 95 will be closed for this evening's commute as crews rush to clean up an inky mess caused when a tractor-trailer hauling commercial ink cartridges rolled over, State Police said.

Authorities said about 500 feet of roadway must now be replaced because of the spilled ink and the state hopes to complete the repair work before the morning commute.

No other vehicles were involved and the driver was not injured in the crash, which occurred about 6:10 a.m.

The ink reached two storm drains, but it is not considered a hazardous material. An environmental cleanup company has been summoned to the scene and a "careful cleanup" will be conducted under the supervision of state environmental officials, State Police spokesman David Procopio said in a statement.

Several hundred gallons of ink splattered onto the highway, said Joe Ferson, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.

Approximately 16,000 pounds of ink cartridges from the Flint Group, an Indianapolis-based company selling printing and packaging products, was bound for a newspaper company in Portland, Maine. Red, blue, and yellow ink cartridges were inside the truck, but Ferson said there is no evidence the yellow ink was released.

Workers from TMC Services in Bellingham are removing the ink, he said. The process involves laying sand over the ink, which soaks it up, and then sweeping the sand away.

The ink is non-flammable, but workers are wearing protective gear to avoid skin contact, Ferson said.