Twenty-five cars went off the tracks there, and an estimated 20,000 gallons of ethanol spilled into the river. Dozens of homes were evacuated, as Hazardous Materials teams were called in response to the incident.
Advertisement
The Federal Railroad Administration is investigation an oil train crash in Watertown, Wis., officials with agency said on Monday.
A Canadian Pacific Railway train carrying crude oil derailed Sunday and prompted a few evacuations in Wisconsin, the second day in a row a freight train derailed in the state.
In September, part of BNSF’s main track in rural South Dakota was put out of service when seven cars of a 98-car train carrying ethanol derailed and started a fire.
Cummings said that a few product spilled due to one of the tank cars being punctured.
The tracks are expected to return to service Monday.
The train derailed about 8:45 a.m. Saturday, around 2 miles north of Alma, a town along the MS, BNSF said. Video footage of the derailment shows train carriages strewn across tracks atop a narrow causeway, which cuts through the Mississippi River’s center, and water can be seen on both sides of the ramp. On Monday afternoon, new track was installed to replace the damaged track. Canadian Pacific Railway announced that the defect was not noticeable to inspectors, but was severe enough to cause the mishap.
The cars were re-railed within two hours.
An empty box auto, empty grain vehicle and three empty tank cars derailed as they were being moved in Watertown Wednesday, about 400 feet west of Sunday’s derailment, officials said.
BNSF said the railroad is working to contain the spill, but it didn’t say how much ethanol has leaked so far.
Although there were no reported injuries, 35 homes were evacuated following the event, whose residents will be accommodated by the company as a precautionary measure.
Advertisement
BNSF Railway crews working on a train derailment along the Mississippi River near Alma are moving train cars back onto the tracks and repairing those tracks.
