Truck flips, spilling gallons of diesel on WA highway south of Tri-Cities

A semi driver crashed on Highway 14 in southern Benton County spilling as much as 200 gallons of diesel.

Shelby Grundy, 34, Kennewick, was heading west on the highway about 2:20 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, the Washington State Patrol said in a traffic memo.

The two-lane highway stretches across the southern portion of Benton County and through the towns of Plymouth and Paterson near the Columbia River.

Grundy was reaching for something inside of his cab when he drove off the road onto the shoulder, Trooper Daniel Mosqueda told the Tri-City Herald.

Grundy tried to steer back onto the road and overcorrected. The truck rolled off the shoulder of the eastbound side of the road.

One of the tankers the semi was hauling spilled about 50 to 200 gallons of fuel onto the road, Mosqueda said. a Department of Ecology crew was called to help with the clean up effort.

The diesel spilled on the shoulder of the highway, said Jessica Kulaas, the communications manager for the department’s spills program. The volume hasn’t been determined, but department officials are working with contractors to clean it up.

It hasn’t impacted wildlife or water in the area.

Grundy was not seriously hurt but was treated at Trios Southridge Hospital in Kennewick, Mosqueda said.

This story was originally published April 23, 2025 at 12:58 PM.