March 19th, 2010 | 
Author: ROY, UT – Drugs or driver fatigue may be factors in a truck accident that happened Wednesday in Weber County Utah. The semi truck rollover accident occurred on Interstate 15 near the city of Roy, south of the Ogden metropolitan area and 32 miles north of Salt Lake City. The area is in the north central section of the state, 308 miles southeast of Boise, Idaho and 124 miles southwest of Kemmerer, Wyoming.
Enviro Care Inc., a hazardous waste emergency response company of North Salt Lake, was brought in to clean up the diesel fuel spilled during the truck accident.
At approximately 4:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, an unidentified truck driver, 55 years old from South Weber, was traveling north on Interstate 15, pulling two tankers filled with close to 7500 gallons of diesel fuel. The tanker truck was owned by Golden Eagle Petroleum Refinery of Woods Cross, Utah.
As the tanker trailer truck moved through the area near Roy, UT, the driver apparently lost control of the 18 wheeler and it rolled over onto the interstate’s median divider. The twin fuel tanks on the semi trailer separated and at least one of them burst into flames, but there was not a massive explosion. Local fire teams quickly responded to the truck accident scene and extinguished the tanker truck fire.
Emergency personnel treated the truck driver whose shoulder was hurt in the rollover truck accident. His injuries were reported as non life threatening and he was transported to McKay-Dee Hospital in nearby Ogden.
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Utah Highway Patrol troopers interviewed the truck driver at the hospital and his blood was drawn for testing. UHP had the results Wednesday afternoon and are screening charges of Driving Under the Influence and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia with the Weber County Attorney’s Office, as a drug pipe was found in the wreckage. The truck driver will likely also be charged with Illegal Lane Travel.
UHP is not releasing the truck driver’s name or the suspected drug as the truck accident is still under investigation. The driver told officers he had fallen asleep prior to the rollover accident.
One of the owner’s of the trucking company, Stan Hartmark, doubts that the truck driver was on drugs at the time of the tanker accident. He stated that three or four other drivers use the same truck. Mr. Hartmark believes it is likely that the truck driver may have fallen asleep while driving.
Utah Highway Patrol also responded to the scene of the truck accident and shut down sections of the interstate. All northbound lanes on the interstate between 650 North Clearfield to Riverdale Road were closed right after the tanker truck accident. Southbound lanes of I-15 were also closed for part of the day, impacting the morning commuter traffic.
STREET VIEW
Enviro Care Inc., a hazardous waste emergency response company of North Salt Lake, was brought in to clean up the diesel fuel spilled during the truck accident. The crews had to clean up about 5000 gallons of spilled fuel. The remaining gallons of diesel were pumped out of the disabled tankers and transferred to another tanker truck and removed from the area.
Once the fuel was cleared from the truck accident scene the workers removed the contaminated soil on the east shoulder of the south lanes and in the median. The soil would be retested after the work to ensure all contaminated sections had been removed.
Shortly after noon Utah State Highway workers began removing the destroyed interstate asphalt at the truck accident scene. This work was expected to take about four hours.
UHP reopened one southbound lane of I-15 shortly after 9:45 a.m. and all lanes were moving again by 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. The northbound lanes were closed for most of the day.
The truck accident remains under investigation.
Gordon, Elias & Seely, LLP state that when a truck driver impaired by drugs or alcohol makes the decision to get behind the wheel of their semi tractor-trailer truck, any driver traveling near them is at risk for injury or death. The power and sheer force of a speeding, 18-wheeler truck is a dangerous weapon that could forever change one’s life. For more information about Utah trucking laws, truck injury causes and victims rights, contact an experienced Utah truck accident lawyer. For a free initial consultation, contact a nationwide truck accident attorney at Gordon, Elias & Seely LLP, for expert advise.
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