By Tiffany Williams –
A tanker truck driver was injured Monday afternoon after his rig rolled over on an Interstate 95 on-ramp, spilling gallons of oil and fuel and shutting down the area for hours.
At 3:39 p.m., State Troopers from the Troop A barracks rushed to the ramp from the Portsmouth Traffic Circle to I-95 northbound after reports of a violent rollover involving a tanker.
Investigators said the 1993 Peterbilt 379, towing a 2019 tanker loaded with landfill leachate, was heading northwest onto the ramp when the driver, 71-year-old John Q. Turner of Readfield, Maine, failed to handle a curve. The massive truck and trailer veered off the left shoulder, tipped, and crashed hard onto their sides, partially blocking the ramp.
Turner was pulled from the wrecked cab and taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital with minor injuries.
Cleanup crews and Troopers worked the scene for more than five hours. Around 75 gallons of mixed motor oil, diesel fuel, and hydraulic oil leaked across the pavement and into the surrounding area. Firefighters from Portsmouth and specialists from the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services contained the spill before it spread further. Once the fluids were stabilized, crews pumped the tanker’s contents out before lifting the vehicle back upright for removal.
The on-ramp was shut down for roughly five and a half hours as investigators from Troop A and Troop G documented the crash and coordinated the heavy recovery effort. Portsmouth Police and the state Department of Transportation assisted.
Troopers cited Turner for negligent driving. The investigation remains open. Authorities are asking anyone with information to contact Trooper Daniel Bourque at Daniel.J.Bourque@dos.nh.gov.