Bags of soil spill from flatbed trailer stuck in Clear Lake, CHP says

A semitruck loaded with soil veered off Highway 20 and rolled over into Clear Lake on Friday morning, shutting down the eastbound lane for eight hours, the CHP said.

Ian Omsberg, 44, of Eureka, was driving southeast on the highway at a “high rate of speed” when he attempted to turn left but ended up going into an embankment, CHP said.

Witnesses told authorities the load shifted the flatbed trailer as Omsberg attempted to round a sharp corner on the highway near Hillside Lane in Clearlake Oaks around 6:20 a.m., said Northshore Fire Protection District Chief Jay Beristianos.

“It’s a sharp corner,” Beristianos said.

The semi-trailer hit a dock and a boathouse as it rolled over once and stopped on its wheels, with the flatbed trailer in Clear Lake and the truck on the shore, authorities said.

Omsberg was taken to Adventist Health Clear Lake with moderate injuries.

The eastbound lane of Highway 20 was closed for about eight hours as authorities worked to extract the trailer and 24 pallets of soil bags out of the lake. Crews pumped diesel out of the truck in case its fuel tanks were ruptured by rocks on the embankment, Beristianos said.

CHP said drugs and alcohol were not a factor in the crash.

You can reach Staff Writer Susan Minichiello at 707-521-5216 or susan.minichiello@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter@susanmini.