Oil spill closes highway

ROOSEVELT — A partial rollover of a semitrailer truck hauling two tankers spilled about 60 gallons of crude oil Wednesday morning on U.S. 40 east of Fruitland in Duchesne County.

Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Rex Olsen said the spill happened about 8:30 a.m. after the truck driver, 25-year-old Kevin Bowler of Vernal, swerved to avoid a head-on collision with a car that had crossed into his lane.

"As Kevin was pulling back onto the roadway his second trailer caught the edge of the road and overturned onto its side, which then caused crude oil to leak out onto the ground," Olsen said.

The Fruitland Fire Department responded to the crash to clean up the spilled oil. Employees of Taylor Co., the Texas-based firm Bowler works for, also helped with the cleanup and assisted a towing company in getting the overturned trailer back onto its tires.

The crash forced the closure of one lane of the highway for about four hours. Olsen said Bowler was not injured. The car that investigators believe caused the accident was never located.