Officials clean up toilet-papered Idaho river

[August 18, 2011]  LEWISTON, Idaho (AP) -- A river in Idaho has finally run out of toilet paper.

State environment officials say crews finished removing massive rolls of unprocessed toilet paper that fell off a truck and were lodged for weeks in the upper Lochsa River.

Earlier attempts to pull out the paper was called off when it began disintegrating, creating an even bigger mess.

Department of Environmental official John Cardwell says teams yanked out the remnants last weekend when lower river flows made the work more manageable.

The Lewiston Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/nbXqTf) crews wrapped the rolls with a reinforced mesh before they were pulled out by a tow truck.

The rolls landed in the water after the truck hauling the load along U.S. Highway 12 slid into the river. The driver was cited for inattentive driving.

[Associated Press]

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