Overturned Egg Truck Has Cleanup Crews Scrambling

California Highway Patrol officers, firefighters and others scrambled to clean up hundreds of eggs frying on the shoulder of a desert highway after a truck carrying them to market flipped over.

The driver, Eugene Robert Mendivil, 33, of Vista, suffered minor injuries when the vehicle overturned about 8 a.m. Wednesday, said CHP Officer Enrique Romero. Mendivil was treated at El Centro Regional Medical Center and released, Romero said.

Officers arriving on the scene saw yolks from hundreds of broken eggs seeping onto the shoulder of California 98, Romero said. The temperature reached 110 degrees during the five-hour cleanup, which involved workers from a tow truck company, firefighters and the CHP.

“They were using shovels and a forklift” to pick up the eggs, Romero said. “It got really hot and the eggs started to smell.”

One fireman said the truck’s cargo seemed so appealing that he and other firefighters suggested that eating them might be a better way to clean up the mess.

Mendivil had fallen asleep at the wheel, causing the truck to drift off the road, the CHP said. He works for Eggs West of West Covina and was taking the eggs to Imperial Valley consumers.