(The following appeared on the Kingman Daily Miner website on December 31, 2009.)
KINGMAN, Ariz. — A Burlington Northern Santa Fe train made an unscheduled stop outside of Kingman Tuesday morning. The train was traveling west from Kansas City to Barstow, Calif, when a warning signal alerted engineers that something was wrong, said BNSF Regional Director of Public Affairs Lena Kent.
They stopped the train west of Kingman.
As engineers walked the length of the train, they found a leak in a tanker car carrying a non-flammable, non-hazardous liquid fertilizer, she said.
The tank was carrying approximately 20,800 gallons of the fertilizer and was leaking at about 30 gallons per minute.
Mohave County’s Emergency Management Department was notified of the leak.
The tank was separated from the rest of the train at a rail spur near Griffith Energy, west of Kingman, said Mohave County Public Information Director Darryle Purcell.
BNSF has contracted with a California company to clean up the spill, Kent said. BNSF is still investigating why the tank started leaking.