Exit 15 on Interstate 295 in Yarmouth is back open after being shut down all Wednesday morning because of a fuel spill.

Maine State Police say cleanup of a diesel fuel spill that closed the northbound exit early in the morning continued until about 12:30 p.m.

Traffic was moving through the area without delay by afternoon. Earlier, traffic was moving slowly and the Yarmouth exit was closed while emergency crews worked to clean up fuel that spilled from a tractor-trailer hauling sludge waste.

The incident was reported at 6:30 a.m. when the truck’s drive shaft broke and punctured the fuel tank. The spill of about 50 gallons of diesel fuel occurred on the ramp but leaked into a wet area, referred by to by some officials as a small stream and others as a wet ditch.

Firefighters and personnel from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection responded. David Madore, spokesman for the DEP, said he was told about 150 to 200 gallons of contamination needed to be cleaned up. The agency’s hazardous materials team and a contractor cleaned up the contamination and sand that had been used to absorb the fuel.

The truck is owned by Sam’s Transportation Inc. in Georgetown, Massachusetts. The driver, Brian Raymond, 60, of Merrimac, New Hampshire, was not violating any commercial vehicle regulations at the time and was not injured in the incident, police said.

Traffic was backed up to Portland at one point. There were five minor crashes associated with the traffic jam, but no injuries were reported.


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