The westbound UP train was transporting tank cars loaded with Bakken crude oil when 16 cars derailed at 12:20 p.m. June 3.
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No injuries or casualties were reported.
PORTLAND, Ore. – Dozens of residents of a Columbia River town in northern OR have been given the all clear to return home after crews made progress in repairing damage caused by the derailment of an oil train that sparked a fire.
Thirteen train cars remained on site as of Sunday.
Espinoza said a failure of the fastener between the railroad tie and the line was the likely cause of the problem, but more investigation will be required before railroad officials know for sure.
“Today’s priority is focused on safely restoring essential services to the community of Mosier as soon as possible”, incident spokeswoman Judy Smith of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a statement. Dozens of residents have been given the all clear to return home.
That still leaves many questions ahead, among them the delivery and routing by rail of other oils and hazardous cargoes. Authorities were working Sunday to clean up an oil sheen in the Columbia near the derailment.
A small quantity of oil leaked into the Columbia River, but has been contained by booms.
“It shines a light on how reckless approving the oil terminal would be”, said Brett VandenHeuvel, executive director of the Columbia Riverkeeper. “I can’t see how any reasonable person can look at this explosion and invite more trains”.
Brown said she is pressing the Federal Railroad Administration to step up safety. Hoquiam, Washington, a year ago approved a ban on bulk crude oil storage facilities.
Earl Blumenauer and Suzanne Bonamici, preceded by minutes the delay of oil train traffic by Union Pacific Railroad. The accident has already renewed calls for stronger regulation to guard communities against crude-by-rail accidents.
Hood River passed a resolution in 2014 opposing the transportation of crude oil through the Columbia River Gorge either by rail or by barge.
“I count myself lucky that we dodged a bullet”, Burns said, after noting that her own child was at school within a few blocks of the derailment. As Mosier Fire Chief Jim Appleton told the editorial board of The Oregonian/OregonLive on Tuesday, doom, for a moment, seemed possible: “My horror upon arriving at the scene was not so much the fire but the long line of rail cars that. could have ignited, a line that extended all the way through town and out of sight”. Firefighters were still fighting the flames several hours later.
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“The media has been saying this incident is ‘near Mosier, ‘” he said. “No. It went end-to-end through our entire town”.
