Cleanup begins at the site of a Montana train derailment and Yellowstone River bridge collapse
Several train cars are immersed in the Yellowstone River after a bridge collapse near Columbus
By Michelle Watson and Keith Allen, CNN
(CNN) — The cleanup has begun at the site of a train derailment in Montana that caused a bridge across the Yellowstone River to collapse, Montana Rail Link said in a statement Sunday.
The company’s railcars left the tracks Saturday morning in Stillwater County, sending multiple cars into the Yellowstone River. No injuries were reported.
Images of the incident showed a buckled bridge sitting in the water with the derailed cars.
Cleanup work and water sampling at the site began Saturday and is “ongoing,” the statement said.
The company said it’s aware of reports of “globs of asphalt appearing down river that may be associated with the derailment and we will proactively investigate and sample this material.”
So far, testing has not shown risks to public drinking water, Montana Rail Link said Sunday.
“Preliminary results do not show petroleum hydrocarbons or sulfur impacts to water quality,” Montana Rail Link said in a statement. “Water quality testing will continue until the cleanup is complete and at this time there are no known risks to public drinking water.”
Some of the derailed cars carried molten sulfur and asphalt, and two cars contained sodium hydrogen sulfate, Montana Rail Link said in a statement Saturday.
Those two cars did not land in the river, according to the company, and initial air quality assessments found there was “no release event associated with those two cars.”
The company said Sunday it continued “to closely monitor (and mitigate) all releases involving molten sulfur and asphalt” and its impacts to the site and nearby area.
“Both of these substances harden and solidify quickly when interacting with water, and modeling suggests that significant downstream movement of material is unlikely,” according to the statement Sunday.
The company also said it is working with local and federal partners throughout the cleanup process, including the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Additional equipment, including a large crane, were being brought on site to aid in construction and cleanup efforts, according to the company.
“Site cleanup and remediation will be an extensive process, but we are committed to working closely with all of our local, state, and federal partners to perform all required work in a safe and efficient manner,” Montana Rail Link said in their statement.
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