Gas tanker overturns, spills 7,500 gallons

Nassau Expressway reopened after nearly 24-hour closure

Posted

Updated Jan. 10 at 9:05 a.m.

Nassau Expressway has been reopened after being closed since 5:30 a.m. on Jan. 9, after a tanker truck carrying approximately 7,500 gallons of gasoline overturned at the intersection of Burnside Avenue and the Nassau Expressway in Inwood at 5 a.m. on Jan. 9 resulting in the closure of the expressway in both the north south directions, officials said. The expressway is expected to be reopened tonight.

What caused the truck to overturn remains unclear. Clean up of the expressway continued through the early evening hours, said Lawrence-Cedarhurst Fire Chief John McHugh. The truck was uprighted and will be towed from the scene, he added.

“The entire contents were lost as result of the incident,” said Bill Fonda, spokesman for the New York State Department of Conversation. “Product has been diked on the roadway, but an undetermined amount has entered the storm drains and into a nearby drainage basin which empties into a regulated New York state tidal wetland adjacent to Doughty Boulevard.”

Diking and setting up an area to pool the product keeps the gasoline from moving to unwanted areas.

The DEC Spill Response personnel responded and assessed the impact and coordinated clean-up operations. Brooklyn-based CBH Transport owns the truck that overturned and hiried a contractor to clean up the gas spill. The truck had just left the Doughty Boulevard depot with a full load of gasoline.

Firefighters sprayed foam on the gasoline, which reduces the flammability of the gas and smother the vapors.

The driver of the truck was taken by Lawrence-Cedarhurst Fire Department ambulance to Jamaica Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, according to LCFD officials. A man who identified himself as one of the owners of the 26-year-old company said the driver is okay and the scene was secured.

In addition to the LCFD, the Inwood, Hewlett, Woodmere, Lynbrook, Rockville Centre, Oceanside, Elmont and Franklin Square fire departments and the Nassau County police responded to the scene.

The Valley Stream, Malverne and East Rockaway fire departments are serving as covering departments in the event of additional emergencies.