An overturned gas tanker shut down I-985 North in Hall County for more than nine hours overnight, authorities said.
The truck wrecked north of Friendship Road just before 6 p.m. Thursday, Hall County fire spokesman Zach Brackett said in a news release. The tanker’s driver was not hurt, and no one else was injured during the incident.
Firefighters doused the tanker with foam to prevent gasoline vapors from igniting. About 20 gallons of gasoline leaked onto the ground due to the wreck.
The wreckage could not be removed until another tanker offloaded the remaining gasoline, a total capacity of 9,000 gallons, Brackett said. The backup tanker arrived about 10:30 p.m., and the wrecked vehicle was finally uprighted about 3:30 a.m.
The interstate reopened about 10 minutes later.
During the shutdown, drivers were crowding onto Friendship Road and Ga. 13 to avoid the major backups, according to the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center.
The Georgia Department of Transportation, Georgia Environmental Protection Division and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency were notified about the incident.
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