Truck rolls, spilling fertilizer

A semi, driven by 22-year-old Taylor Covalt rolled over on county road 93 earlier this month near Gurley, spilling 2000 gallons of fertilizer.

The semi was attempting to turn onto county road 93 from county road 52, when the trailer ran off the road to the right, causing both the tractor and trailer to roll onto their sides, spilling the load onto ground alongside the route.

The county called the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality to take steps to remove the contaminated ground where the spill occurred. This caused damage to the neighboring field that the substance spilled into, owned by John Sanna.

The county deals with around one or two fertilizer spills of this type every year, according to Cheyenne County Sheriff John Jenson. They have handled with two within the past month. Residents of Cheyenne County have been lucky, he said, because the spills have all occurred in rural areas where the chemicals can be contained.

No chemicals have been spilled in town, or any other areas wherein the fertilizer could potentially contaminate any water sources.