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Mass. DEP and EPA Respond to Lexington Oil Spill; Fuel From Truck Spilled in Traffic Accident

Release Date: 03/06/2002
Contact Information: Mark Merchant, EPA Press Office (617) 918-1013

LEXINGTON, Mass. – Emergency response personnel from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency were called to the scene of an oil spill on Route 128/I-95 on Tuesday, March 5, the result of an accident involving a fuel truck and a sport utility vehicle.

The truck was carrying about 1,700 gallons of fuel oil and about 1,300 gallons of diesel fuel. Most of the fuel oil spilled, but only a small portion of the diesel fuel spilled. The accident occurred about 10:30 a.m.

In all, approximately 900 gallons of fuel spilled on the roadway at the accident scene, which was at the Rte. 2 interchange. A contractor for Mass Highway working on a construction project at the interchange poured dirt over the fuel to soak it up, and the dirt was later removed.

Some fuel entered a stormdrain and began flowing towards Stoneybrook Reservoir, which is the back-up water supply for the city of Cambridge. The Mass Highway contractor collapsed a pipe leading from a catch basin and stopped the flow of fuel to the reservoir.

Fuel was also spilled into an adjacent wetland and a drainage swale that leads to it. That was pumped out by a contractor hired by the fuel truck's owner to perform cleanup work.

In all, EPA committed $5,000 for this emergency response.