Tanker Crash on Highway 199 Sends Asphalt Emulsion Into Smith River, Driver Suffers Major Injuries
![An overturned tanker truck lies on its side along U.S. Highway 199 near the Collier Tunnel area after an early morning crash Thursday. Authorities say the tanker released an unknown amount of asphalt emulsion onto the roadway and into the Smith River, while the driver was transported to the hospital with major injuries. [Photo courtesy of CHP]](https://kymkemp.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Tanker-rollover1-900x473.jpg)
An overturned tanker truck lies on its side along U.S. Highway 199 near the Collier Tunnel area after an early morning crash Thursday. Authorities say the tanker released an unknown amount of asphalt emulsion onto the roadway and into the Smith River, while the driver was transported to the hospital with major injuries. [Photo courtesy of CHP]
According to CHP traffic incident logs, the crash was first reported at approximately 3:45 a.m. as a rollover collision near the Collier Tunnel area.
Emergency responders arriving on scene found the tanker overturned on its side. By 4:29 a.m., CHP logs described the tanker as fully ruptured and leaking. Fire crews worked to extricate the driver from the wreckage, and scanner traffic later indicated the truck and trailer had come to rest against a rock wall.
A spill report submitted to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) states that the tanker was involved in a solo-vehicle crash and released an unknown amount of liquid Asphalt Emulsiononto the roadway and into the Smith River.
The report says the driver was transported to a hospital with major injuries.
According to Cal OES, the release on the roadway had been stopped and contained, but the material that entered the Smith River had not been contained as of the report’s filing. The truck’s tank capacity was unknown.
CHP logs indicate that by shortly after 6 a.m., responders were still attempting to determine where the tank had ruptured and how much product remained inside. The tanker and trailer remained attached and on their side against a rock wall.
Multiple agencies responded including CHP, Caltrans, Gasquet Fire, environmental officials, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon State Police, and the Oregon Department of Transportation.
Highway 199 was initially closed in both directions while crews worked to rescue the driver, assess the spill, and begin cleanup operations. By approximately 6:15 a.m., authorities began transitioning to one-way traffic control through the area.
The Cal OES report states that Caltrans was on scene and CHP was coordinating cleanup efforts.
The extent of any environmental impacts to the Smith River was not immediately known Thursday morning.
The CHP incident was closed shortly after 7:30 a.m., though cleanup and environmental assessment efforts are expected to continue.
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3:45am? Why is he driving the 199 at that time?
this is a tragedy for the Smith River!
I am deeply saddened and feel sick to my stomach.
way to many trucks wrecking and causing environmental damage!
You do know that truck drivers work all hours of the day and night, aren’t you? Yes, it’s awful for anything to spill into our rivers, but how about showing some concern for the driver.
I recall the glory days of my youth where I was paid by the hour driving these rigs. I don’t know if is true, but I do suspect that many now get paid by the load, which creates a tendency to glue the foot to the floor. The wreck happened on a curve which sometimes can show the driver using excessive speed in order to make an extra load, thus a bigger paycheck. I hope the driver can survive his injuries and learn from this.
Guess he just flat out missed those big old yellow signs with the arrows on them?
I also hope the driver does well and learns from this. I also hope that the industry and regulators learn from this and stop encouraging and incentivizing dangerous driving habits to increase profits at the risk of employee health, public safety, and environmental degradation. These trucking incidents seem to be on “repeat cycle.” Can we find the weak link and break the chain?
the last driver that caused a spill of asphalt binder on the middle fork of the smith river in April 2022 had an empty 1/5 of volka and a half empty one. he kept driving after biffing the bank at Hardscrabble creek and was arrested by CHP in Hiouchi. 11 felon counts and he never showed up to court and i would assume still wanted. I would assume this is BearCat 2.0. the photos of the binder in the river on Caltrans District 1 FB page look worse than in 2022.
The last driver to cause a spill into the Smith River, is not this driver (or I hope not). 199 is not a very forgiving road in most parts. It could have been a myriad of reasons that caused this crash, so until all the facts are known, how about people stop speculating.
Oh we can speculate. He was going to fast for the curve. They wouldn’t be the first person to hit the wall there. The last time I went through, there was a license plate stuck up in a tree. With part of a bumper still attached. There’s no ditch right there to roll into, just the river on the other side. Big, fully laden rigs don’t just tip over on a curve.
So, the possibility of a medical issue, or swerving to avoid hitting an animal or a rock coming down, doesn’t even enter your narrow-minded brain? I am well aware of 199, I’ve driven it more times than I can count in my lifetime. I’m not saying he wasn’t speeding, wasn’t drinking, wasn’t high on something, what I said is no one knows what happened, so unless or until those details become public information, speculation is just people spreading rumors that serve no purpose.
Then quit reading the comments. People are going to say whatever is on their minds. You just have to roll with it.
Also, you don’t swerve to hit anything through there. You brace for impact. I know because I’ve had to do it. You either smash the hill on one side, or do a Thelma and Louise maneuver into the river and hope to not drown. That’s your options in much of the canyon. Also, it takes a bit of speed to tip a loaded truck like that. Skid mark lengths on the pavement will indicate just how fast they were traveling.
Just as much as you can tell someone to “stop reading the comments” & “roll with it” then they can give you shit for speculating and you must take your own advice and just “roll with it”.
Freedom of speech is for everyone.
You can say bullshit and people can respond with non-bullshit.
Get over it.
Your approval is not necessary.
As a frequent traveler of 199 this is typical. They drive at night as there’s simply less traffic and the drivers can drift a little over the lane striping and not scrape the super narrow parts making the curves and worry less of head-on collisions. You can see the glow of headlights coming so it’s actually safer for everybody. Usually.
However….not when you’re going to fast for the curves.
I know this spot, having hit a wheel-sized boulder that rolled into the roadway right by there about 10 years ago. It’s at one of the sharper bends near the Dorris slide/Idyllwild area. It drops to 20MPH as you approach it from a somewhat straight stretch from the maintenance station and I’ve seen more than one vehicle go right into the mountain on that bend. I once saw a Volvo that had overtook me (crossing the double yellow to pass) ping pong the side and the guardrail right in front of me a while back too before blocking the lanes in a steaming heap (minor injuries to them).
199 is never a place to make up time for anything. Anything at all. As it is, I have yet to travel it and NOT come across at least a few rocks in the roadway I have to dodge.
I don’t like the term “unknown amount”.but really that’s all the responders have to go by. Alot of that asphalt emulsion is being put down on many paving jobs on the north coast right now. Hopefully it’s not as toxic as it’s name sounds like. Thanks to the responders who are trying to protect the Smith River. Suggest motorist’s to find a different route. It’s going to be a bottleneck on the 199.
Unfortunately, the other routes from Del Norte and Curry counties to the Rogue Valley either mean going north to Bandon before turning inland or going south to Arcata to 299. Either way the driving time is tripled.
Yup, that’s the choice. When the highways and biways are shut down on the north coast, the choices are limited. Be careful with Google searches for alternative routes. Those could lead you to nowhere.
Cancelled my trip to Grants Ass. Thank you RHBB for the info! Then I saw the article about the heat and rechecked weather report. Yup- me and my old dog are staying right here on the coast! I hope the driver heals up and many thanks to those keeping any more crap out of our beautiful Smith River. That river is a natural wonder of the world, a real treat!
There’s Bald Hills-96-Grayback (not in winter tho; Siskiyou Crest).
Wouldn’t send a Semi (unless a logging truck) or tourist that way, but an average, well prepared local can save almost half a day vs the 299/96/5 path.
That truck and trailer was probably carrying approximately 7,000 or 8,000 gallons, if both tanks were full…
Deja Vue…
My first concern is for the truck driver taken to the hospital with major injuries. I do hope that he will make a full recovery and will be driving again. It is too bad that some of the asphalt emulsion has found its way into the Smith River. I am glad that they got the leak stopped and the truck and clean up can begin. Thank you to all the first responders for their work at the scene. If you can please find an alternate route to get past that site or if one lane is open, use it when directed by traffic control. Please go slow and courteous to the workers.
Traveled this road for decades. Im a diesel mechanic. 100%driver error, slow down , avoid rocks and navigate those turns. Ive seen too many bigrig drivers speeding in this area.
More on this story at http://www.redwoodvoice.org
It use to be Bearcat out of Klamath Falls that hauled the hot oil
Drove by this accident this morning. It looked bad. Hope the truck driver lives. It looked like he had a little to much speed and turned it over. Then smashed his cab right into the rock. Very surprised he is still alive. I think everyone did a hell of a job cleaning and containing what they could. But there was a culvert right there going to the river. So that sucks for the river and wildlife.