After being closed since about 5:30 a.m. I-95 finally reopened by 8:20 p.m.

As chemical spills go, the 55 gallons of xylene that splashed onto I-95 in South Philadelphia early this morning wasn't big - barely enough to fill an industrial drum.

But the chemical, from an overturned tanker, was dangerous enough to close a one-mile stretch of the highway the entire day, and well into the evening. All to the loud dismay of gridlocked and rerouted drivers.

"I flew in this morning and am trying to get home to Tampa now," said Lee Hoffman, 43, who came to the area for an interview with Verizon in Marlton and was on his way to Philadelphia International Airport. "I got stuck in it this morning, too."

He and thousands of other drivers were forced off the interstate between Packer Avenue - near where the accident occurred - and South Broad Street as firefighters, police and cleanup crews descended.

Their woes began around 5:30 a.m., ...