Hanover Street between McComas Street and Brooklyn was closed overnight while crews worked to remove about 8,900 gallons of gasoline that spilled into the Patapsco River when a tanker truck overturned about 5 p.m. yesterday on an on-ramp to southbound Interstate 95.

Battalion Chief Hector L. Torres of the Baltimore Fire Department said firefighters and crews from the Maryland Department of the Environment were cleaning up the spill.

Witnesses told police the tanker, owned by Dana Transportation, whose address was not available, was rocking back and forth on the ramp from northbound Hanover Street before it overturned near the top of the ramp and landed on its right side against a wall.

Part of the rig broke the wall, sending chunks of concrete more than 50 feet to the ground below, police said.

Torres said employees at warehouses directly under the ramp were evacuated. Residents near the scene reported gas fumes in their basements.

Torres said the unidentified driver was treated at Harbor Hospital Center for a minor head injury.

The cause of the accident is under investigation.

Pub Date: 3/05/99