BISMARCK, N.D. (NDDEQ) – The North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality (NDDEQ) said a CPKC train derailment occurred Friday, July 5, near Bordulac in Foster County, located several miles southeast of Carrington. Of the 29 derailed cars, several were hauling anhydrous ammonia, methanol and plastic pellets. There were no reported injuries. The cause of the incident is under investigation.
Foster Country Emergency Management was the lead agency for this response. They worked with CPKC, which immediately began monitoring air quality after the incident. As a precaution, residents were asked to shelter in place yesterday while equipment was relocated and some ammonia was released.
According to Foster County Emergency Manager Andrew Kirking, “Although Bordulac rail operations resumed at about noon today, roads have been reopened to local traffic only due to ongoing cleanup efforts involving heavy equipment.”
CPKC continues to collaborate with responders and is actively engaged in cleanup operations. The North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality is on site and will continue overseeing the investigation and remediation efforts. Assisting the response team are several local and state agencies, including the Jamestown Regional Hazmat Team and the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services.
State agencies are notified of hazardous spills and releases through a unified reporting system at spill.nd.gov. Producers, transporters and developers in the energy industry, as well as the public, can report hazardous materials spills via the website or by calling 1-833-99SPILL (1-833-997-7455). According to state and federal laws, spills or releases must be reported within 24 hours to North Dakota agencies responsible for remediation and documentation.
Previous updates below.
Sunday evening crews safely completed the removal of all the rail cars containing hazardous materials from the immediate derailment site. Also Sunday, all remaining hot spots from the earlier fire were extinguished.
Patrick Waldron, CPKC, Assistant Vice-President, Communications and Media Relations said the emergency response operation has now transitioned to recovery and clean-up activities. With rail cars removed and secured, work to repair the railroad track proceeded. Those repairs were completed Monday morning. Rail traffic is resuming Monday following track safety inspections.
CPKC response crews, including environmental and hazardous materials teams, will remain on the scene to continue car and site clean-up in coordination with emergency response officials.
The health and safety of the public, emergency responders and workers remains CPKC’s first priority. CPKC is committed to the full restoration of the scene.
CPKC has been closely working with local, state and federal officials since immediately after this incident occurred and wishes to again thank all emergency responders for the their swift and effective response assistance during this operation.
Previous update below.
Response and recovery operations continue this evening at the site of Friday’s derailment near Bordulac, ND. Operations described in our update from earlier today have been ongoing safely throughout the afternoon and into this evening.
CPKC railway is proceeding with the utmost care and safety of the surrounding communities in mind. As stated earlier, CPKC thanks all responders for their swift and effective response assistance.
Responders have encountered the tedious class of now reclaiming anhydrous and methanol tanks. As these tanks still have product inside and were entangled in the crash. Each car must be individually evaluated, relocated and emptied of as much product as possible before they can finally be removed. The situation is being closely monitored by environmental specialists to ensure as little product as possible is lost.
(AP) – Rail cars carrying hazardous material derailed and burst into flames Friday, July 5th about 10 miles southeast of Carrington, but officials said no one was hurt and the threat to those living nearby appeared to be minimal.
Twenty-nine cars of a CPKC train derailed around 3:45 a.m. in an area surrounded by farmland, said Andrew Kirking, emergency management director for Foster County.
The cars were carrying anhydrous ammonia, sulfur and methanol, said Bill Suess, spill investigation program manager for the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality. The ammonia was the biggest risk.
“Wind has been in our favor on this,” Suess said. “That risk has greatly subsided. Still there — as long as fires are burning.”
Exposure to high concentrations of ammonia in the air can cause burning of the eyes, nose, throat and respiratory tract, and can result in blindness, lung damage or death, health officials say. Exposure to lower amounts can result in coughing and irritation of the nose and throat.
Kirking said the cause of the derailment wasn’t known. The engineer and conductor got away safely, he said. Kirking said it appeared that 10 to 15 of the rail cars caught fire.
CPKC said in a statement that it has “initiated its emergency response plan and launched a comprehensive, coordinated response.”
Photo courtesy of Doug Zink