Carrier to pay millions in cleanup, penalties for Connecticut gasoline spill

The Norfolk accident caused “severe disruption to neighbors and significant environmental harm,” the release stated. “Soundview has taken responsibility for the ongoing remediation, and the state continues to closely monitor that work.”

Early on Nov. 5, 2022, a tanker truck leased and operated by Soundview struck a fire hydrant and utility pole on State Route 44 in Norfolk, according to the attorney general’s office. It rolled, slid several hundred feet on the road and spilled its entire 8,200 gallons of gasoline through the ruptured tank, “contaminating the yards of nearby residences and traveling through the town’s stormwater sewer system into nearby surface and groundwaters.”

Nearby residents were evacuated until that evening amid fears of a possible explosion.

Ground saturated with gasoline at the nearest properties had to be excavated to 9 feet deep, and 600 tons of contaminated soil and 90,000 gallons of contaminated water were removed.

The $350,000 penalty to be paid to the state includes a $200,000 payment to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, a $100,000 civil penalty and $50,000 to the Office of the Attorney General’s Consumer Fund to support enforcement actions.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s SAFER website states that Soundview has 48 drivers and 45 power units. Its 11.8% vehicle out-of-service rate is about half the national average, and its 2.2% driver out-of-service rate is about one-third the national average.