ALCOHOL AND EXCESSIVE SPEED CAUSES A SEMI-TRUCK CARRYING FISH TO CRUSH AND RELEASE ITS LOAD OF 11,000 SPRING CHINOOK SALMON. DRIVER HAD 3-TIMES THE LEGAL ALCOHOL LEVEL IN HIS BLOOD.

 EXCESSIVE SPEED CAUSES A SEMI-TRUCK CARRYING FISH TO CRUSH AND RELEASE ITS LOAD OF 11,000 SPRING CHINOOK SALMON

Cedar Flat, Ore. — Oregon State Police say speed may have played a role in a semi-truck wreck on the McKenzie Highway Tuesday afternoon.

OSP says just before 3 p.m. an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife truck carrying more than 11,000 Spring Chinook salmon, lost control and went off the road near Cedar Flat.

“It’s rough. Honestly, it’s sad to see and that was one of the things I was hoping not to see was the entire load gone,” said Shannon Richardson, ODFW Fisheries Biologist.
None of the fish were able to be saved.

Their carcasses were lying everywhere, raising safety concerns for the community.
“You know you’ve got delicious smelling fish along the road. My concern is that that’s going to draw animals closer to the highway. That could increase the risk of collision in this stretch,” said Richardson.

“There’s going to be other wildlife that are smelling that. They’re going to be all over here which may cause another accident,” said Steven Robertson, Cedar Flat resident.
The name of the driver has not been released.

He was transported to the hospital with minor injuries.
We’re told he was from Roseburg.

ODFW says he was hauling fish from the McKenzie Hatchery to the Coast Fork Basin.
The fish were only being moved today because of the malfunction at the Leaburg Damn.


 ______________________________________________________________

Police Probe Alcohol as Factor in Fish Truck Crash

EUGENE, Ore. — Dec 31, 2014, 6:00 PM ET

Oregon state police are investigating whether the driver of a tanker truck was drunk when it crashed and spilled thousands of baby salmon onto a road in western Oregon.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife estimates 11,000 juvenile salmon died in Tuesday's wreck on state Route 126 east of Eugene.

The truck was hauling salmon from a hatchery that's low on water because of problems with a dam on the McKenzie River. The fish were going to be released in a river south of Eugene.

State police Lt. Josh Brooks told The Register-Guard ( http://bit.ly/1Hh9PhF ) the initial blood test showed the driver had a blood-alcohol level more than three times the legal limit.

The driver was taken to a hospital with a broken shoulder. His name hasn't been released.