Massive Fuel Leak May Impact Boston's Morning Commute

(NECN: Justin Michaels, Dorchester, Mass.) - Crews continue to work Friday to clean up after a tanker truck spilled about 1000 gallons of gasoline on Dorchester Avenue just after 11 Thursday night.

The smell of gasoline filled the air on Dorchester Avenue near Freeport Street.

A major gasoline spill has tied up Boston Fire crews, Boston Police crews and environmental protection crews, including the United States Coast Guard, all night.

The concern is 1000 gallons of gasoline flowing down Dorchester Avenue after this Sunoco tanker truck hit a street lamp causing gas to start flowing out of the truck.

“We evacuated 44 people in the area because the fumes were growing and being really strong gas… plus there’s always the potential for fire when you have gasoline leaking onto the street,” said Steve Macdonald of Boston Fire.

This tanker truck holds 11,000 gallons of fuel in five compartments.

Two compartments had to be drained because there are no shut off valves.

“This street has an incline on it so the fuel started flowing down Dorchester Avenue. We created a little diking dam system to get the flow onto a driveway where we surrounded it with sand and covered it with foam… and right now environmental crews are on scene vacuuming up that fuel,” Macdonald said.

The remaining gas on the tanker was transferred into another tanker truck and safely removed from the scene.

An unknown amount of gasoline flowed into 12 catch basins that lead to Boston Harbor.

The Coast Guard is monitoring all drainage lines into the harbor.

Boston Police investigators will now determine the exact cause of the accident.

They say the driver of the truck is fully cooperating with their investigation.

The 44 people evacuated have been allowed back into their homes.

The lot behind this fence near the scene of the spill holds 200 school buses.

The school district has worked out a plan to get those buses on the road.

The cleanup continues and your morning commute will be affected.

The cleanup may not be finished until lunch time. If the area of 1246 Dorchester Avenue by Freeport Street is in your commute route, find an alternate path.

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