(The Associated Press circulated the following story on April 22.)
ESSEX, Mont. — A double section of Burlington Northern Santa Fe track was reopened Wednesday evening, about 30 hours after a freight train derailed east of here, BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas said Wednesday.
‘‘One track was reopened at 5:30 p.m. and the other at 6:45 p.m.,” said Melonas, BNSF spokesman in Seattle. ‘‘Twenty-nine of the cars were re-railed and two were pushed off the tracks.”
Passengers on two Amtrak trains were bused between Shelby and Spokane, Wash., Melonas said.
‘‘It will take three to four weeks before all of the corn, material and cars are removed and the area returned to its natural environment,” he said.
Tuesday’s derailment occurred in the same area as three major spills in the 1980s. After those derailments, the railroad did a partial cleanup and ended up burying spilled corn that eventually fermented and attracted grizzly bears to the tracks. That buried corn is believed to have played a part in at least eight bears being killed by passing trains.
Melonas said the cleanup will involve mostly a large, rail-mounted vacuum to suck up spilled corn.
Tim Manley, a grizzly bear management specialist with the state, said propane guns may be used if officials need to keep bears away from the tracks during the cleanup.
The cause of the derailment is still under investigation, Melonas said.