ROY -- The driver involved in an accident that closed a section of Interstate 15 early Wednesday morning may be facing charges of driving under the influence.
Officials with the Utah Highway Patrol believe the South Weber man may have been under the influence of drugs when he slammed his tanker truck into a concrete barrier in Roy.
"I can't get into much detail," Sgt. Jeff Nigbur said Wednesday afternoon. "There's a lot of rumors. We're not leaning toward alcohol. It's either illicit or prescription medications."
By midafternoon, Nigbur said, troopers had decided to screen charges of DUI, posessession of drug paraphernalia and illegal lane travel with the Weber County Attorney's Office.
The impact of the 4:15 a.m. accident caused the truck to roll and fall onto its side a few hundred feet up the highway in the northbound lanes. The truck was carrying two nearly full tanks of diesel fuel, each tank having a capacity of 3,000 to 3,500 gallons, said Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Jimmy Higgs.
Some of the fuel leaked onto the highway and caught fire, burning brush in the median. Fire crews from Roy quickly put out the small blaze. A fire crew from Hill Air Force Base assisted, arriving with a foam-shooting fire truck.
The truck's driver, identified as Shane Oliver, 55, of South Weber, was transported to the hospital with minor injuries. No other vehicles were involved in the crash.
Oliver, who works for Golden Eagle Trucking in Ogden, was transporting the diesel fuel from a refinery in Woods Cross to a location on 36th Street in Ogden.
Oliver began work around 5 p.m. Tuesday and was scheduled to end his shift around 5 a.m. Wednesday. Before making the Woods Cross run, he reportedly drove the truck to Brigham City and Logan.
Higgs said laws allow truck drivers to work up to 12 hours straight with no more than 11 hours of drive time during the shift. They also are required to have 10 hours off between shifts.
UHP officials are still investigating that aspect of the crash and will verify with company officials whether Oliver was operating the truck under those guidelines.
The crash closed all lanes of traffic for several hours starting around 4:15 a.m.
All I-15 traffic between 5600 South in Roy and 650 North in Clearfield was diverted onto 1900 West, causing massive delays for motorists. Early in the afternoon, traffic heading north into Weber County was backed up as far south as Layton.
Officials estimate the truck was carrying around 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel, and although they are not clear exactly how much poured onto the roadway, a spokesman with the hazardous materials team on site said they removed around 3,700 gallons of diesel fuel from inside the tanks.
Once the tanker was emptied, it was removed from the median, and the Utah Highway Patrol opened all southbound lanes around 9:55 a.m.
Crews spread absorbent onto the highway to keep the spill from spreading and to make sure the road would not be slick once it was reopened. But just before noon, officials discovered the diesel fuel disintegrated much of the asphalt in the northbound lanes, and although much of the crash scene was cleared by noon, paving crews were brought in to repave two sections of the northbound highway.
The far right lane was reopened to traffic around 2 p.m.n and remaining lanes were reopened around 5 p.m.
Updated 11:24 p.m.
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Freeway open after rollover near Roy
ROY -- All lanes on northbound Interstate 15 are open, after a diesel spill Wednesday morning.
The diesel spill, caused after a tanker truck rolled at the 5600 South exit in Roy around 4:15 a.m., has shut down the highway to all northbound traffic since the crash. The fuel damaged the asphalt roadway in the left and center lanes. UDOT crews are working to repave those lanes and are hoping to have the number two lane open by 4 p.m., said UDOT Region One Spokesman Vic Saunders.
But the far left lane may be closed as late as 9 p.m., as hazardous materials crews conduct tests to determine whether the fuel contaminated the ground water. If possible, motorists are urged to use US Hwy-89 as an alternative.
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ROY — A drowsy driver who was close to wrapping up a near 12 hour shift told authorities he fell asleep at the wheel early Wednesday morning when he slammed his tanker truck into a concrete barrier on Interstate 15 in Roy.
The impact caused the truck to roll and fall onto its side a few hundred feet up the highway in the northbound lanes. The truck was carrying two nearly-full tanks of diesel fuel, each tank having the capacity to hold 3,000 to 3,500 gallons.
Some of the fuel leaked onto the highway and caught fire, burning brush in the median. Fire crews from Roy quickly put out the small blaze. A fire crew from Hill Air Force Base also assisted, arriving with a foam-shooting fire truck.
The crash closed all lanes of traffic for several hours starting around 4:15 a.m. Officials are unsure how much fuel spilled onto the highway, but they had to remove around 3,700 gallons of diesel fuel from inside the tanks before they could haul away the truck. Once the tanker was removed from the median, the Utah Highway Patrol opened all southbound lanes around 8:55 a.m.
Following the crash, all I-15 traffic between 5600 South in Roy and 650 North in Clearfield was diverted onto 1900 West, causing massive delays for motorists. Early in the afternoon, traffic heading north into Weber County was backed up as far south as Layton.
The diesel fuel disintegrated much of the asphalt in the northbound lanes and although much of the crash scene has been cleared, paving crews are being moved in to repave the highway. UHP officials estimate northbound I-15 will be closed in the area until as late as 5 p.m.
UHP Sgt. Jimmy Higgs said they are discussing whether they can allow one lane to be opened sooner.
The truck’s driver, identified as Shane Oliver, 55, of South Weber was transported to the hospital with minor injuries. Oliver, who works for Golden Eagle Trucking in Ogden, was transporting the diesel fuel from a refinery in Woods Cross to a location on 36th Street in Ogden.
Oliver began work around 5 p.m on Tuesday and was scheduled to end his shift around 5 a.m. on Wednesday. Before making the Woods Cross run, he reportedly drove the truck up to Brigham City and Logan.
Higgs said laws allow truck drivers to work up to 12 hours straight with no more than 11 hours of drive time during the shift. They are also required to have 10 hours off between shifts.
UHP officials are still investigating that aspect of the crash and will verify with company officials whether Oliver was operating the truck under those guidelines.
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Freeway partially reopened after rollover near Roy
ROY -- At 9:55 a.m., the Utah Department of Transportation announced it has opened all lanes on southbound Interstate 15 at the site of a semi-truck rollover at 5600 South on I-15 in Roy.
Meanwhile, UDOT estimates that it will take at least two more hours to re-open northbound I-15. Northbound traffic is presently being routed off I-15 at 650 South in Clearfield, to SR-126, according to UDOT spokesman Vic Saunders.
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I-15 crash closes highway in both directions
ROY — It will be one to two more hours before traffic can resume on Interstate 15, the Utah Highway Patrol said in a 9:30 a.m. news release. Northbound lanes are not expected to open for four to five hours as hazardous materials crews continue to clean up thousands of gallons of diesel fuel spilled when a tractor-trailer crashed.
Traffic on Highways 89 and 91 remains thick and moving slow as all vehicles are diverted from the interstate. The Standard-Examiner will update this story as the situation changes.
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ROY -- Interstate 15 is closed in both directions between 5600 South in Roy and the 650 North exit in Clearfield as crews work to clean 7,600 gallons of diesel fuel from the roadway following a tanker rollover earlier this morning.Utah Highway Patrol officials say they are working to get the southbound lanes open as quickly as possible, but northbound lanes may be closed for the entire morning. Traffic is being detoured off the interstate and around the crash. The UHP is warning drivers to expect heavy delays and give yourself extra time to get through the area.
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