Derailed BNSF engines, car removed; cleanup, repairs begin
(Update: Derailed engines, car removed; cleanup, repairs begin)
BNSF Railway crews working north of Madras overnight have removed five derailed locomotives and a rail car and have begun the cleanup and removal of about 4,000 gallons of spilled diesel fuel, to be followed by track repairs so the line can reopen.
Two of the locomotives and the rail car were taken to Gateway for mechanical assessment and adjustments, while the three other engines were moved to Madras, BNSF Northwest spokesman Gus Melonas said Tuesday.
Environmental specialists are removing the affected rock and soil, to be stockpiled on a pad nearby, Melonas said. Geotechnical experts also will be studying the slopes and rock formations for stability, after the train hit two large boulders that had fallen onto the tracks early Monday.
Track repair work will follow, with replacement of some track, rail and ties, Melonas said. The timeline has not been determined, he added, and some train traffic will use other routes in the meantime.
The 80-car freight train struck two large boulders that fell onto the tracks in a remote area about 20 miles north of Madras early Monday, causing five locomotives and a rail car to derail, closing the line, spilling about 4,000 gallons of diesel fuel near Trout Creek and bringing out emergency crews.
There were no injuries reported, and all of the cars remained upright, Melonas said.
The derailment happened about 2:30 a.m., involving a northbound freight train traveling from Bakersfield, California to Pasco, Washington, Melonas said. It happened in a remote area, not close to any roads or crossings, he confirmed.
Along with the five locomotives, the train was hauling 11 rail cars loaded with freight and 64 empty cars, Melonas said.
Jefferson County sheriff’s Deputy Joe Aldred said he arrived to find broken track, with parts of concrete ties gone, and the front engine losing fuel.
He said the crew members told him they hit “two huge rocks in the track,” and “it launched them in the air a bit” after hitting them. One said a rock was “the size of a VW.”
Melonas said the train “struck rocks on the tracks that slid down from a 100-foot cliff in the area. The wheels of five locomotives and one rail car, carrying vehicles, jumped the tracks, though all of them stayed upright, he said.
The crew had spotted the large rocks and hit the emergency brakes, but the train was unable to avoid striking at least some of them, the railroad official said.
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality reported late Monday morning that an estimated 4,000 gallons of diesel spilled from the fuel tank of one engine and was “released to the ground” about 600 feet north of Trout Creek, a tributary of the Deschutes River.
“While the diesel has not reached Trout Creek, as a precaution, first responders have deployed absorbent boom to capture any diesel, in case it were to reach the creek,” the agency said in a news release. The derailment and spill is about a mile from the BLM’s Trout Creek Campground along the Deschutes River.
The DEQ, BNSF and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are coordinating in a unified command to address the spill.
DEQ spokeswoman Laura Gleim said late Monday afternoon that crews had deployed three sets of boom as a precaution, in case diesel migrates to the creek. The first is just downstream of the spill, a second further downstream and the third near the confluence with the Deschutes River
Diesel fuel leaked from the lead locomotive after the derailment, Melonas said. A BNSF environmental team at the site said the fuel appeared to be contained to the railroad right of way, but containment equipment was placed in the area as a precaution.
There are no Amtrak passenger trains that use the tracks in that area, Melonas confirmed.