(The following article by Margaret Ellis was posted on the Columbian website on November 17.)
KELSO, Wash. — Railroad tracks are expected to reopen today after two freight trains collided Saturday, injuring two crewmen, spilling diesel fuel and damaging several rail cars carrying contaminants.
One line was briefly reopened Sunday morning to allow for two Amtrak trains en route to Seattle and Portland, said Gus Melonas, a spokesman for Burlington Northern Santa Fe, which owns the tracks.
The collision occurred about 8 a.m. Saturday when a northbound Union Pacific Railroad train slammed into the side of a southbound BNSF train that was switching tracks midway between Kalama and Kelso. The tracks run between Interstate 5 and the Columbia River.
Fifteen Union Pacific cars derailed, and seven BNSF cars left the tracks, Melonas said.
On Sunday, crews continued to clear away derailed cars from the lines and repair tracks.
Melonas said that officials with the National Transportation Safety Board were still investigating the cause of the crash. It wasn’t clear if the southbound train crossed the tracks late or the northbound train crossed early, Melonas said.
Two Union Pacific crewmen, both 60, were injured.
The state Department of Ecology was at the scene overseeing cleanup of the site. Spill responder Ron Holcomb said that between 2,000 and 7,000 gallons of diesel fuel escaped from the locomotives.
The fuel is the main concern of Ecology officials, although contaminated dredge spoils from a Superfund cleanup site at Seattle’s Duwamish River were spilled as well.
Holcomb said he didn’t know what made the dredge spoils contaminated, but he noted that it was not considered hazardous waste. Out of 18 cars, only three carrying the dredge spoils were damaged or breached. All the dredging material was lost from one car; two other cars lost part of their load.
The diesel fuel was well-contained, Holcomb said. A trench along the rail line was dug, and the fuel collected there, where it was being vacuumed out. The fuel hadn’t made it to a small wetland between the rail line and the freeway, he said.
Workers removed derailed equipment and containers off to the side of the tracks. The cars will all be removed over the next few days.
Melonas said Sunday that most Amtrak trains, which use BNSF’s railway, were scheduled to run today, with the exception of a 10 a.m. train from Seattle to Portland. Those passengers would be bused.
He added those plans could change, and more passengers might end up on a bus.