The company that owns the gasoline tanker truck that crashed on Interstate 395 April 3, closing the highway for more than 15 hours, likely faces a steep bill.

"Counting the loss of my truck, the cost will run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars," Bill Casey, owner of Liquid Transport LLC of Cheshire, said Saturday. "Fortunately, soup to nuts, my insurance will cover all of the costs."

The truck, which was driven by Casey's son, Jeffrey, ran off the northbound lane and rolled over the metal median divider before coming to rest partially in the southbound lane. It leaked a small portion of the 6,500 gallons of gasoline it was carrying onto the median.

The cleanup costs include:

Removal of most of the load of gasoline in the truck's tanker unit.

The wreckers to right and remove the heavily damaged truck.

Removing the contaminated soil along the median.

The foam chemical used by firefighters to prevent the truck from bursting into flames. Specific costs for that were not available yet.

The state Department of Environmental Protection requires the "responsible party" in any chemical or hazardous material spill to pay the costs of cleaning up the spill, DEP spokesman Dennis Schain said.

'Did the right thing'

"In this instance, the trucking company did the right thing," Schain said. "They hired the environmental cleanup company, offloaded the unspilled fuel and saw to it the contaminated soil on the median was removed."

Plainfield Fire Chief Daniel Hutchinson said he was still to calculate how much foam firefighters used during the more than 12 hours it took to clear the scene.

He said it costs about $110 for a 5-gallon bucket of the foam. According to reports at the time of the accident, firefighters used foam from at least two local departments, Plainfield and Central Village.

Norwich Fire Chief Kenneth Scandariato said his department contributed approximately 100 gallons of the foam. Using Hutchinson's figures, the cost for the Norwich foam would be about $2,200.

Plainfield Fire Marshal Paul Yellen said firefighters spread foam on the truck and the leaking gasoline as soon as they reached the scene to prevent the gas from igniting. More foam was used while holes were drilled into the tanker so the remaining gasoline could be removed.

Yellen said firefighters also spread more foam when a severe thunderstorm blew through late in the afternoon.

Casey praised the work of firefighters and others.

"They did a tremendous job, and we truly appreciate their efforts," he said.

He said he also was grateful to the Bozrah motorist who climbed onto the smashed cab right after the accident and helped free Jeffrey Casey, who was treated for minor injuries at The William W. Backus Hospital emergency room. Casey said his son was recovering well from his injuries.

State police initially listed the company's address as Augusta, Maine. Investigating Trooper Timothy Stearns said the tanker unit was registered in Maine, leading to the mistake.

(article link http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news/x180636634/Truck-company-faces-big-bill-for-Plainfield-crash )