(The Associated Press circulated the following on May 7, 2009.)
WINONA, Minn. — Union Pacific Railroad will clean up about 15 houses in Winona after they were flecked with oil from a leaky locomotive on Friday.
Homes and cars on Front Street near Mankato Avenue were speckled with mysterious black goo, and witnesses blamed oil from a locomotive on a nearby rail line.
Initially, a Union Pacific spokesman in Omaha, Neb., denied UP responsibility, but called the Winona Daily News back on Wednesday to accept responsibility.
Spokesman Mark Davis says when the locomotive reached Milwaukee, mechanics determined it had an oil leak.
Davis says the company has contacted the homeowners and plans to have cleanup crews in the area on Thursday. He says only a small amount of oil sprayed from the locomotive.