A leaking gasoline tanker caused a hazmat incident this afternoon in downtown Boston. Police spotted a small, but significant, amount of gasoline leaking from a tanker on Surface Road along the Greenway between the Financial District and Harbor Towers. Police called the Fire Department who brought in the HazMat Response Team to assess the dangerous situation. The tanker was full of gasoline at the time it was stopped, creating an explosion risk should the leaking gasoline ignite.
The fuel tanker was traveling south after coming over the N. Washington Street Bridge, through the North End into downtown Boston. This is the same route that a recent safety study recommends should be banned from pass-through hazmat trucks that are not doing business in the city. If the State follows the safety study, as recommended by Boston officials, MassDOT will designate pass-through trucks to go around the city. The City estimates that approximately 80% of hazmat trucks in Boston are simply passing through to save the time instead of using the safer Route 128/I-93/I-95 highways.
Photo courtesy of Bruce McCue.
