Logan firefighters David Olson, left, and Jeff Peterson look at a semi carrying dairy products to Cheyenne that overturned in the Logan River near the Dugway Wednesday afternoon. (Eli Lucero/Herald Journal)


By Matthew K. Jensen
Published:
Wednesday, December 2, 2009 4:09 PM CST
Bags of shredded cheddar cheese were seen floating down the Logan River Wednesday afternoon after a semi truck filled with 38,000 pounds of dairy products rolled over and landed in the water about 13 miles up Logan Canyon.

Utah Highway Patrol officials say a Kenworth truck with a 53-foot trailer was headed northbound on U.S. Highway 89 at about mile marker 475 when the driver lost control and went off the road, submerging part of the trailer into the frigid water.

The incident occurred at about 11:48 a.m. near a bend in the road just below the dugway. A passing motorist reported the rollover after reaching an adequate cell phone signal area.

“The driver loaded up at Schreiber Foods today and was headed for Cheyenne, Wyo.,” said UHP Trooper Travis Mouritsen. “He came around this curve too fast and just lost control and the truck tipped on its side.”

The driver, a Draper man, told officials he was traveling 35 mph. He suffered only a minor injury to has hand, officials said, and was alert and talking to investigators.

Towing crews from Elden Dattage helped shore the fractured trailer before 11 additional men created a bucket brigade to hand remove hundreds of cartons of yogurt, cheese and butter products.

The workers stood in a line, some straddling icy rocks and makeshift platforms made from shipping pallets, and passed along a daisy chain of small boxes up the river embankment to the highway where others reassembled the goods onto new pallets.

Empty trucks were filled with the materials and transported back to Cache Valley. UHP officials said it was likely the merchandise will have to be destroyed for liability reasons.

Logan fire and EMT professionals were also on site to prevent further contamination to the water way. They used floating absorbent tubes to capture oil or diesel fuel from the water surface. Bits of foam from the trailer’s walls broke away from the wreck and floated downstream.

Mouritsen says no citations have been issued, but his agency is considering a charge for failure to maintain control on a mountain road.

Tow crews are working to remove the trailer and truck from the river.

Reader Comments
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blutonium wrote on Dec 2, 2009 8:32 PM:

" wow, second mention of elden dattage towing in a day - this and a pic in today s paper - I cant ever recall ever seeing mention of any other companies - why so carefull to avoid mention or post pictures of the other 10 companies around, but now the special treatment for eldens? "



mikem wrote on Dec 2, 2009 10:57 PM:

" blutonium;

Eldens is the only one in the valley that has the equipment for job like this.

Your average *Preston's wrecker * with the standard slide off deck car hauler just isn't going to be able to pull a semi out of the river, eh?.

A car going off the road, or in roadside wreck,(Preston's recoverable) isn't really newsworthy, a semi is, eh?

35 MPH? BS, unless the load shifted of course. "