State’s oil spill gear welcome in Revere

REVERE – The Fire Department is slated to receive oil spill response equipment designed to help it clean up messes including those left by tanker truck accidents in Brown Circle.The rotary bound by Route 107, Broadway and Squire Road is notorious for tractor trailer wrecks that spill flammable fuel across traffic lanes and into marshland along 107.”This equipment will help,” Revere Fire Chief Eugene Doherty said Monday as he welcomed news from state officials that Revere joins Lynn, Nahant, Peabody, Saugus and Swampscott on a list of communities to receive 20-foot trailers outfitted with booms designed to halt the spread of spilled fuel, absorbent material and tools.The state will own the trailer and keep it stocked for Fire Department use.”The trailer for your city will be ready for delivery sometime this summer. Accompanying the delivery of the spill trailer will be two training classes for local municipal responders – one involves general familiarization with the equipment in the trailer and the second is a hands-on field deployment exercise,” state Bureau of Waste Site Cleanup official Steve Mahoney informed Doherty on Monday.Doherty estimates there have been seven truck accidents in the rotary since 1999.State Police in April cited the driver for Parsons Transportation with speeding and marked lane violations after he lost control of his tractor, spilling 10,000 gallons of heating oil. The crash shut down the busy rotary until mid-afternoon and environmental cleanup crews spent two days removing oil from the salt water marsh off Route 107.The accident was the latest in a succession of similar incidents including one six years ago involving an Abenaqui Carriers tanker truck carrying more than 5,000 gallons of gasoline. The truck flipped over in Brown Circle, spilling fuel and tying up traffic.After the April accident, city and state officials called for stricter controls on truck haulers and reconstruction of Brown Circle to make it safer. State highway officials are conducting a traffic-safety study of the rotary with the city’s help.City Council President Daniel Rizzo wants state highway officials to consider razing Brown Circle and making it an intersection with traffic signals in a bid to end a string of tractor trailer accidents in the rotary.Doherty wants to see reforms made in hauling requirements for truck drivers. He also wants Brown Circle posted with billboards warning drivers of big trucks to slow down.State Sen. Anthony Galluccio has filed legislation prohibiting trucks carrying flammable materials from traveling through rotaries. Galluccio’s bill would only allow truck drivers carrying fuel loads to use rotaries if a safer alternative route is not available. Echoing Doherty’s concerns, Galluccio has also filed legislation prohibiting truck firms from paying drivers to carry flammable loads based on the size of the load or by number of deliveries the driver makes.Doherty said some firms pay drivers “as per load” promising them an hourly rate provided they deliver the load in a specified time period. He said the time allotted to the driver is often too short, prompting truckers to use excessive speed.Galluccio also wants the state Legislature to debate increased penalties and safety standards for firms and drivers transporting flammable liquids and explosive materials.