Crews cleaning reservoir after truck carrying live turkeys crashed


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DEER CREEK RESERVOIR — Water supply managers shut down a key culinary water supply aqueduct from Deer Creek Reservoir Thursday after a truck full of live turkeys crashed into the water, resulting in a leak of about 100 gallons of diesel fuel.

The intake at the Salt Lake Aqueduct will remain shut off pending the results of water quality tests that ensure no contamination, said Mike DeVries, assistant general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake and Sandy.

For now, residents of Sandy and Salt Lake City will receive Little Cottonwood Creek water treated at another plant and users of the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District will also rely on other sources such as groundwater, DeVries said.

"We actually have those alternative water supplies we can utilize in the interim. We are in good shape and we can sustain use. For now, we are good. Hopefully this is cleared up quickly."

Richard Bay, general manager of the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District, said the district's treatment plant has been shut down until expedited results from water sampling are in and monitoring is being done at the Provo River at Olmstead diversion point.

"If we have to shut down our diversion from the Provo River will be fine for several days."

As of late Thursday afternoon it appeared that the fuel spill was entirely contained, according to Wasatch County Health Department public information officer Chris Smoot.

"You don't have to worry about your drinking water being contaminated, because people are watching this carefully to make sure that does not happen," said John Whitehead, assistant director for Utah Division of Water Quality.

Crews cleaning reservoir after truck carrying live turkeys crashed
Photo: Steve Olsen

The truck hauling 720 turkeys ran into trouble on U.S. 189 around the reservoir at 6:20 a.m. Thursday while rounding a left-hand curve about a half mile from Deer Creek Dam.

The trailer "for some unknown reason struck the guard rail in that area" and pulled it out of the ground, said Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Todd Royce. The trailer then rolled over the guard rail, pulling the truck with it.

Broken crates and dead turkeys were floating in the reservoir. About two dozen turkeys survived the crash.

The trailer and truck took out about 100 feet of guard rail and trees, rolled down the embankment and into the reservoir. The driver was ejected from the vehicle, but did not sustain life-threatening injuries.

The driver, Justin Neff, 32, of Elsinore in Sevier County, said he does not remember how he got out of the cab, but he told Utah Highway Patrol officials that he thinks he was thrown from the vehicle. He was taken to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center and treated. Neff had been driving to Norbest Inc. in Gunnison, Sanpete County.

A spokesman for the company that provided the turkeys, Moroni Feed Company, gathered up the turkey carcases and retrieved the live turkeys following the crash.

"Right now our director of Animal Welfare Services is onsight to ensure the safe removal of any dead, live or injured turkeys and to make sure we do that with best animal welfare practices,” Moroni Feed Company’s Kris McBride said Thursday afternoon.

The right lane of southbound U.S. 189 was closed intermittently throughout the day while crews worked to pull the truck out with cranes and replace the guard rail, Royce said.

Hazmat crews responded to help with any fuel leaks from the crash, and investigators were working to determine its cause.

Multiple booms were deployed at the reservoir near the dam where the truck plunged into the water, said Eugene Swalberg, spokesman with the state Division of Parks and Recreation.


You don't have to worry about your drinking water being contaminated, because people are watching this carefully to make sure that does not happen.

–John Whitehead, assistant director for Utah Division of Water Quality


Several agencies worked to contain the spill, which was a concern because of Deer Creek's role as a supplier for culinary water.

Environmental scientists with the Utah Division of Water Quality and with Wasatch County Health department collected water samples for analysis to determine the extent of contamination. Bay added that sampling also took place on the Provo River downstream.

A preliminary incident report filed with the Utah Department of Environmental Quality indicates a caller told authorities the fuel leaked from the saddle tanks of the truck, flowing along the banks and into the reservoir in a 50-foot wide sheen.

The water intake in Deer Creek is 90 feet from the surface, according to the Central Utah Water Conservancy District. Because the fuel floats on top of the water, Smoot said it is unlikely to have reached drinking sources. However, crews were worried about the oil's impact on wildlife.

Any bacteria from the turkeys would be cleaned out in the water treatment process, Smoot said.

By late Thursday afternoon, most of the turkey carcasses had been removed, and the spill was contained in the water, although it had spread along 1,500 to 2,000 feet of the shoreline, according to Smoot.

DeVries said the crash happened early in the season at low peak when Deer Creek plays less of a role in water supply for users in the Salt Lake Valley. As the summer months pass and flows start to reduce in canyon creeks, the reservoir becomes more critical in the supply chain.

Swalberg, too, said this time of the year the crash should not interfere with any recreational activities at the state park, which is a popular site for camping and fishing.

Contributing: Marc Giauque and Jed Boal

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