NEAH BAY — A tractor trailer loaded with halibut went off the the road and into a ditch Monday on state Highway 112 just after leaving the fishing center of Neah Bay, blocking eastbound traffic for more than two hours and spilling an estimated 60 gallons of diesel fuel, a State Patrol spokesman said late Monday.
There were no injuries — and the load of fish apparently remained intact, Trooper Russ Winger said.
“They did not have to offload it and transfer it,” he said. “The cooler is still operating.”
Loyd Weaver, 60, of Seaside, Ore., was driving a 1994 Freightliner semi-tractor pulling the trailer eastbound when he went off the road at Milepost 1 near Bull Man Creek at 11:47 a.m. Monday, Winger said.
A crane truck righted the partially rolled trailer, he said.
“It was not a hard impact,” Winger said.
Winger said he did not have information on why the tractor went off the road and that the case remains under investigation.
He also did not know where Weaver had picked up the halibut.
The diesel fuel was contained in an effort coordinated by the Clallam County Emergency Operations Center, Winger said, adding that the state Department of Ecology was notified of the spill.
The highway was fully open as of 2:43 p.m., Winger said.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
