By Andrew Ryan
The Boston Globe
 Photo Phil Sullivan/Wellinvolved.com Firefighters work on the tanker carrying jet fuel that overturned on I-95 Thursday. |
ATTLEBORO, Mass. — A tanker truck lugging 11,001 gallons of jet fuel overturned early yesterday in a crash in Attleboro, closing southbound Interstate 95 for nearly 11 hours. The truck spilled a third of its payload when it flipped after being hit by an out-of-control car near Exit 4 at 4:45 a.m.
The fuel flowed into storm drains and prompted the evacuation of more than 30 people from 14 nearby homes.
Preliminary air, water, and soil tests indicated that the environmental impact of the spill did not extend much beyond the interstate, according to state and federal officials who responded to the scene and spoke at a press conference.
“As of now we believe the release [of jet fuel] is limited to the highway,” said Dan Crafton of the state Department of Environmental Protection.
The road fully reopened at 3:30 p.m. The crash occurred when Andrew Tavarez, 21, changed lanes to pass another car, according to State Police. Tavarez, of East Providence, R.I., lost control, hit a concrete barrier, ricocheted across three lanes of traffic, and hit the driver’s side of the tanker truck, which rolled over.
The truck, driven by Michael Cowan, 37, of Northbridge, was en route to T.F. Green Airport in Rhode Island. When it rolled over, the cab of the truck came to rest on the Volvo’s hood.
Cowan, Tavarez, and a passenger of Tavarez’s - Hope Amaral, 19 - were taken to Rhode Island Hospital with what State Police described as minor injuries. No charges have been filed.
Ten fire departments responded to the scene. Crews set up dams to stop the flow of the jet fuel. Holes were drilled in the tanker truck to drain fuel that did not spill.