Crews clean up gasoline spilled from tanker

SWANSEA, Mass.—Crews spent the day Monday cleaning up gasoline that spilled the day before from a tanker truck on Interstate 195.

Police said the driver lost control of the truck and overturned at about 5:40 a.m. Sunday, spilling about 8,500 gallons of gasoline near exit 3.  The eastbound lanes of the highway were shut for hours. The two left lanes reopened by 10 p.m.

Coleen Brown, Swansea’s conservation agent, said the first priority was to clean up the area nearest to the highway so the right lane and shoulder can re-open.

“They’re going to remove the earth that’s there to a level where they know there’s no more contamination, and they’ll replace that eventually with clean soil,“ Brown said.

Brown estimated that 4 to 5 acres of land were affected by the gasoline spill.  No drinking water was affected, but there’s concern the fuel could contaminate the ground water.

Pads and booms were put down to prevent the gasoline from reaching wetlands that feed Mount Hope Bay.

Police said the truck driver, Kim Kilbreth, 55, suffered minor injuries in the crash.