United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 10 responded to a tank truck crash involving 10,000 gallons diesel fuel, in Scottsburg, Douglas County, Oregon. The truck was owned and operated by Dedicated Fuels, Inc.. The crash occurred on Highway 38 while the truck was traveling westbound near mile marker 17, just east of Scottsburg, on Saturday, 7/8/06, at 1400 hours. The truck consisted of a primary 6,000 gallon tank mounted on a single-chassis truck with a secondary 4,000 gallon “pup” trailer. The truck and primary tank plunged off the highway and fell down the embankment where it was stopped by several trees. The secondary “pup” trailer crashed to a stop on the roadway and burned intensely.
At the crash location, Highway 38 is built on an elevated roadbed along a hillside on the north side of the Umpqua River. The road embankment drops about 15 to 20 feet to a floodplain. The floodplain is about 100 to 150 feet wide from the road to the Umpqua River bank. The river bank descends approximately 10 more feet to the level of the river. A culvert runs beneath Highway 38 directly under the crash location and empties into a basin at the bottom of the Highway 38 embankment. A second culver in the basin directs water towards the river. Diesel fuel was entering the Umpqua River from the bank at the spill site.
