UP: Rail-ties bolt may have caused Gorge train derailment

The city of Mosier lifted its boil water advisory Monday as work crews continued to remove oil from the tanker cars that derailed last Friday. Meanwhile, Union Pacific officials said they found a possible cause of the derailment: a bolt that fastens the rail to the railroad ties.

Here’s the 7:15 p.m. update from Mosier Derailment Incident Command.

Water sample tests showed that the water from a back-up well now being used is safe to drink. At 2 p.m. the city lifted the boil water advisory for all residents except for two homes on Rock Creek Road.

Response crews continued to transfer oil off the derailed tanker cars and stage it for transport through The Dalles.

Union Pacific has identified a preliminary cause of the crash, saying a bolt that fastens the rail to the railroad ties may have been at fault. But the final determination of the cause has not been made.

Sixteen tanker cars carrying Bakken crude oil derailed Friday afternoon. Officials estimate that 42,000 gallons of crude escaped from four rail cars. The cars were part of a 96-car train carrying Bakken crude oil.

Thirteen cars remain at the wreckage site and two have been emptied. The oil will be transferred to The Dalles for transport by rail to Tacoma, Wash., its original destination.

Union Pacific estimated that 10,000 gallons were removed from the wastewater system after the crash with the remaining 32,000 gallons either burned off and vaporized, captured by booms in the Columbia River, or absorbed by soil. An undetermined amount remains in wastewater lines.

Booms remain in place as a precautionary measure, but no new signs of oil sheen have been seen on the river or other waterways. Environmental crews have been working to identify and control the source of the sheen.

Traffic resumed on the rail line through Mosier late Sunday, but with restrictions on the cargo that can move through the area with trains limited to 10 mph.

Crews continued to carefully monitor air and water quality around the site of the crash.

A temporary fix has allowed the city to restore sewer service to local customers. But until the city’s wastewater treatment plant is repaired, Mosier’s wastewater will be collected and trucked to Hood River for disposal.

Federal, state, tribal, and local authorities remain at the command center near the scene to coordinate response until the cleanup is complete.

Media and citizen inquiries can be directed to: MosierMP70@gmail.com, an information kiosk is located at the Mosier School, and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality is providing public updates at bit.ly/deqmosier.

Union Pacific said earlier Monday it has resumed train service through Mosier, the Columbia River Gorge city affected by last Friday’s fiery derailment, despite a rising chorus of leaders urging a moratorium on oil-train traffic on the route until an investigation is done and answers found.

As a precaution, the trains passing through Mosier are limited to 10 miles per hour, much slower than the usual 30 mph. Officials announced Monday that about 42,000 gallons of crude oil leaked from the four rail cars that burned.

The company restarted service despite objections from the Mosier City Council — and underscored Monday by a call from Gov. Kate Brown and Democratic lawmakers for an oil train moratorium.

Union Pacific spokesman Justin Jacobs said Monday morning that freight traffic — though no crude oil — has been moving through the area since Sunday night after multiple parties determined the area and the new track is safe, The Associated Press reported..

He said the railroad “will not run any crude oil trains through this area any time soon.”

Meanwhile, a Washington state official said an unknown amount of oil had been discovered in a vault that feeds into a wastewater treatment plant for the town.

Department of Ecology response manager David Byers said sewer pipes near the railroad tracks were damaged after Friday’s fiery train derailment. Oil leaked into a sewer main and flowed downhill to the vault, which discharges treated water into the Columbia River.

Union Pacific spokeswoman Raquel Espinoza said none of that oil appears to have gotten into the river. She said efforts to remove oil from the tankers still at the site stopped Monday morning so crews could focus on the oil in the vault.

Thirteen tank cars remain at the site. Ten of them still contain crude oil.

Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, Gov. Kate Brown and Reps. Earl Blumenauer and Suzanne Bonamici released the following statement Monday, calling for a temporary halt to oil train traffic in Columbia River Gorge in light of last Friday’s derailment:

“Oil train tankers are still lying on their sides in Mosier, the ground and water have yet to be cleaned up, and there’s still no good explanation for the cause of Friday’s crash. It is too soon to resume oil train traffic through the Columbia River Gorge.

“Union Pacific should not resume oil train traffic before meeting with the community of Mosier and giving a thorough explanation for the cause of this accident and an assurance that the company is taking the necessary steps to prevent another one.

“A train full of toxic crude oil derailing, burning, and exploding near homes, schools, and businesses is a worst fear realized for people who live in Mosier and in other communities along the tracks throughout the Gorge.

“They deserve to know that the causes of this derailment have been both identified and fixed, and there should be a moratorium on oil train traffic until they get those explanations and assurances.

“We will also be pushing for the Department of Transportation to take a hard look at alternative routes for oil and hazardous material trains that would put fewer Oregonians at risk of a dangerous crash in their backyards.”

At an emergency meeting Sunday afternoon, the Mosier City Council approved a motion demanding that oil be removed from derailed cars before traffic is restarted. They also said they want a thorough investigation before the resumption of “high-risk” traffic.

No injuries were reported in the derailment, in which 16 of 96 tank cars went off the tracks and started a fire in four of the cars.

In the wake of Friday’s derailment, Governor Brown also called on federal officials Monday to improve rail safety and better protect communities.

Here’s her full statement regarding rail safety in Mosier and across the state:

“I share the concerns of the people of Mosier and all Oregonians regarding the safety of our communities and ecosystems. I have directed my staff to follow up with the Incident Response Team to ensure public safety is maintained and risk to the environment is minimized throughout the duration of the response effort.

“I also expect federal authorities to conduct a full and thorough investigation of the cause of this accident, assess the response to see what improvements should be made, and evaluate ways to reduce risks to communities and the environment.

“Critical federal rules that would enhance rail safety are either in litigation or are yet to be adopted. I am calling for the strongest possible measures from federal policymakers and regulators to bolster rail safety. The safety of our communities depends on this work being completed as soon as possible.”