(The Associated Press circulated the following article on July 19.)
REEDER, N.D. — Two weekend derailments on track that runs through Adams and Bowman counties are not related, a Burlington Northern Santa Fe spokesman says.
Six cars carrying sorghum and corn derailed from a BNSF train Saturday night near Reeder. Officials said the train was en route from Mitchell, S.D., to Tacoma, Wash.
“A Billings (Mont.) crew responded with mechanical equipment to assist,” BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas said. “There were no injuries and no hazardous materials involved.”
Early Friday morning, nine cars of a BNSF train derailed near Rhame, about 40 miles northwest of Reeder.
Melonas said 1,000 feet of track was destroyed when the cars derailed from a 64-unit train traveling from Chicago, Ill., to Laurel, Mont.
One container held paint, of which less than 25 gallons were spilled and posed no environmental threat, said Melonas.
“There was a minimal amount of paint spilled that was removed and no waterways were impacted,” he said.
Melonas said the cause of both derailments is under investigation, and they are not related.
Adams County Sheriff Eugene Molbert said investigators were checking on a wheel bearing in the Reeder derailment. Earlier, Bowman County Emergency Manager Dean Pearson said a broken rail appeared to have caused the derailment near Rhame.