Cleanup efforts along Interstate 91 in Meriden are delayed while the crews finish repairing the pavement after a tanker crashed, spilled thousands of gallons of oil and caught fire on the highway earlier this week.
A spokesperson for the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said workers planned to remove oil-soaked soil from the highway median Wednesday but have delayed the project while the Department of Transportation finishes repairing the road surface.
It comes two days after an oil cargo tanker rolled over and bust into flames, spilling 3,000 gallons of oil across the highway. Police believe the tanker may have struck the Murdock Avenue overpass on the northbound side the highway between exits 16 and 15.
"It appears at this point, although it's preliminary, that it may have blown a tire and hit the bridge abutment, tore the tank off the trunk, splitting it down the back and turning it upside down," said Meriden Fire Chief Ken Morgan.
State police said a passenger car drove through the flames. The driver said he was shaken up but unharmed – although his Subaru melted. The tanker driver was taken to the hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.
The stretch of the highway damaged during Monday's crash has since been repaved. According to the DEEP, crews are now making some final repairs.
It's not clear when the soil removal will now take place.
