Hwy. 58 Reopens After Crash, Big Fuel Spill

A large fuel spill following a crash Monday of a double-tanker truck closed state Highway 58 four miles west of Oakridge for several hours, ODOT officials said.

Oregon State Police said the highway reopened to one lane of travel around 7 p.m., with flaggers and a pilot car in place, taking motorists through in alternating directions. Motorists were warned to expect 5-15 minute delays. The road later fully reopened, as TripCheck indicates.

A commercial semi truck hauling 10,000 gallons of fuel in two tanker trailers overturned Monday morning, spilling more than 4,000 gallons of diesel and gasoline, officials said.

Around 8:45 a.m., a truck pulling two tanker trailers was eastbound on Highway 58 near milepost 31 when it traveled off the shoulder and overturned, troopers said. Due to hazardous material spill from one of the tanks, the highway was closed in both directions.

The truck’s driver, Gary E. Griffith, 60, of Mdford, received minor injuries not requiring transport to a hospital. The trucking company was identified as Cascade Petroleum Transportation out of Portland. Griffith was cited for failure to drive within a lane.

Prior to off-loading the remaining 5,800 gallons of fuel, as a precaution, police and fire personnel evacuated residents of about 35 homes in the West Ridge Subdivision, located north of the site

According to an ODOT news release, after the remaining fuel is pumped from the tanks, the vehicles were to be righted for removal.

Several agencies coordinated their response to the incident, including the Oakridge Fire Department, Eugene Fire Department and the Region 2 Hazardous Materials Response Team, the Lane County Sheriffs Department, Oregon State Police, the Department of Environmental Quality and ODOT.