This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A turkey truck that crashed into Deer Creek Reservoir did not contaminate water supplies, test results confirmed Friday morning.
Water from the reservoir to the Salt Lake aqueduct was closed off Thursday after a semitrailer truck hauling about 700 live turkeys crashed into the reservoir near the dam. The spilled fuel and dead turkeys raised concerns about the integrity of the water supply.
Crews were expected to reopen the aqueduct Friday afternoon, said Mike Wilson, manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake and Sandy.
Cleanup was still underway at the reservoir, said Wasatch County Health Department spokesman Chris Smoot on Friday.
The truck and trailer had been removed Thursday night, but some debris, turkeys and fuel remained in the water Friday morning. The turkeys were expected to be disentangled from debris and removed within the day, Smoot said.
The fuel still poses a risk to wildlife, as it had floated along 1,500 to 2,000 feet of shoreline on Thursday, Smoot said. Much of the fuel was absorbed by booms, but some was carried by waves onto rocks along the shore. The terrain is too steep to remove the rocks without heavy equipment and major disturbance, Smoot said. Crews are keeping the booms in the water and waiting for waves to wash the fuel off the rocks to be absorbed in the reservoir, he said.
Inspectors will monitor the water quality for about a week, Smoot said.