AUGUSTA — A tractor-trailer crashed on Interstate 95 in Augusta around 10 p.m. Sunday, forcing the temporary closure of the northbound lanes between exits 109 and 112A.
The wreck, which took place on the Bond Brook overpass, caused diesel fuel and oil to leak from the wreckage of the truck.
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No injuries were reported, and northbound traffic was diverted to the Western Avenue exit and then to Leighton Road to avoid the crash site.
One lane reopened early Monday morning, but the other remained closed.
A 30-foot-long section of guardrail on the overpass bridge was destroyed, and the bridge is expected to remain one lane “for some time,” according to Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.
The impact of the crash ripped the front axle from the truck, and the axle fell below to Bond Brook Road, which is under the interstate. The crash also ripped open the truck’s fuel tanks, spilling fuel on the road.
Brian Tarbuck, superintendent of the Greater Augusta Utility District, said district officials decided, as a precaution, to shut down a drinking water well just below the Bond Brook overpass where the truck crashed.
The district has three wells, including the one that was shut down around 8 a.m. Monday. Tarbuck said the remaining two wells can meet the district’s needs for water for a few days.
“We don’t believe there is any contamination,” Tarbuck said. “We’ll leave the well off today and tomorrow just as a precaution. It doesn’t look like there are going to be any long-term effects.”
State Department of Environmental Protection workers were on the scene Sunday night and worked with Department of Transportation workers to contain the spill of fluids from the truck and planned to work Monday to remove the materials.
Peter Blanchard, director of responsive services for the state DEP, said about 120 gallons of diesel spilled on the roadway. Sand and gravel were spread on the road to absorb as much of the spilled fuel as possible, and absorbent pads were placed to block drains on the bridge.
Blanchard said the sand and gravel would be collected and disposed of Monday.
He said he does not believe the utility district’s well or Bond Brook were contaminated by fluids from the accident.
Blanchard said the district shutting down the well was a precaution and not because contamination is believed to have occurred.
“We’ll have a better look at it today during daylight hours, and if need be, we’ll test the well to make sure nothing’s there,” he said Monday.
State Department of Transportation workers were at the crash site late Monday morning, replacing the guardrail on the bridge destroyed in the crash with temporary concrete barriers.
State police said the driver of the truck was Anna Tronscosco-Williams, 22, of Indiana. She was driving an empty tractor-trailer when she lost control on the icy roadway and struck the guard rails. She was not injured, and no charges were filed.
McCausland said the tractor portion of the rig was destroyed, and the combined damage to the truck and bridge will likely be several hundred thousand dollars.
The Greater Augusta Utility District is currently creating two new wells on the east side of the Kennebec River to provide alternative sources of drinking water. District officials decided to add the new wells following a 2011 crash in which a truck carrying almost 4,000 gallons of Nopcote, a chemical used in paper-making, left Interstate 95 just north of the Bond Brook overpass and tipped over, spilling about 400 gallons into a nearby stream that feeds into Bond Brook.
That spill forced the utility district to shut down all three of its wells, which are within about 1,000 feet of each other near Bond Brook on the west side of the Kennebec, out of fear they could become contaminated. Two of those wells were turned back on later that day and the third within a few days. There was no indication the contaminant ever made it into the water supply, Tarbuck said, but the incident prompted district officials to seek alternative water sources other than the three closely spaced wells, one of which was shut down Monday because of the most recent fuel spill there.
The most recent incident, Tarbuck said, “Makes me feel good knowing we’re installing those other wells across the river.”
Tarbuck said the new wells, under construction at the end of Sunrise Circle in Augusta, should be fully operational by June.
He said the two remaining wells should be able to supply enough water while the third well is shut down, at least in the short-term.
“We should be fine. We have a lot of water in storage tanks already,” he said. “If we don’t run any of our wells for a day, we’d still be OK. With two (of the three current wells), we can go for a few days. If we had to go a month, then we’d have a problem.”
Keith Edwards — 621-5647
kedwards@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @kedwardskj
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