(The Associated Press circulated the following on May 14, 2010.)
CASPER, Wyo. — Crews on Thursday started removing train cars that crashed on the steep bank of the Wind River and cleaning up the diesel fuel, barley and aggregate clay that spilled in the accident, state and railroad officials said.
Two locomotives and four freight cars derailed Wednesday when the train smashed into a boulder on the track about five miles south of Thermopolis. The lead locomotive and one of the cars slid 60 feet down the embankment and landed partly submerged in the river. The other locomotive and cars came to rest on the bank.
“We are continuing to work with environmental hazmat teams to continue to contain the product,” Gus Melonas, spokesman for Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Corp., said Thursday. “We have not estimated the amount of diesel fuel that was spilled from the locomotives at this point. An environmental assessment is under way today.”
Fuel spilled from tanks in both locomotives, Melonas said. By Thursday afternoon, leakage was down to a trickle from the locomotive still in the water, he said.
Joe Hunter, emergency response coordinator for the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, said the locomotives were carrying about 3,500 to 5,000 gallons of diesel. Railroad crews drew out fuel that hadn’t spilled while also using vacuums and absorption pads to try to clean up pockets of spilled diesel that collected along the river bank, he said.
“A lot of the fuel has washed downstream and been diluted by the water,” Hunter said. “I think the overall impact is going to be pretty minimal due to the amount of water going down the river.”
Boysen Reservoir was releasing water into the river at a rate of 2,300 cubic feet per second Thursday, a common rate and not a particularly high flow, said John Lawson, area manager for the Wyoming Area Office of the Bureau of Reclamation.
The bureau expects much more snowmelt to flow into the reservoir as temperatures warm this weekend, but the bureau has agreed to a BNSF request to delay increasing river flows until Saturday so the railroad can clean up the wreck in calmer waters, Lawson said.
The town of Thermopolis and Hot Springs State Park have both shut their intakes on the river to protect their water supplies from possible diesel contamination.
“Even after the initial cleanup is done, we’ll have them place booms around the water intake just to ensure we’re not pulling anything in there,” Hunter said.
Hunter said the spill will probably result in a state environmental violation enforcement against BNSF, but he had not heard of any wildlife problems.
“Initially there is some hazards to wildlife and fish, but not so much fish, because diesel fuel is going to float,” Hunter said.
BNSF plans to use cables and cranes on Friday to remove the locomotive that’s partly submerged in the river water, Melonas said. The freight car that tipped over and spilled bentonite, an aggregate clay, will also be removed Friday.
The locomotive that came to rest on the river bank was removed Thursday, Melonas said.
Three of the derailed cars were loaded with barley, Melonas said. Two of those cars stayed upright and have been put back on the rails to be pulled away. A third barley car tipped and spilled its load. The railroad planned to remove that car on Thursday, Melonas said.
Crews used vacuums to pick up the barley and aggregate clay from the river bank Thursday and into the evening. Melonas said the company was evaluating whether any barley or clay spilled into the river.
Melonas said train traffic that would normally use the line is being rerouted. BNSF plans to replace about 300 feet of damaged track and reopen the line by Saturday, he said.
Two crew members who were aboard the locomotive that slid into the water were taken to a local hospital for observation and released Wednesday night.