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CSX Wolf Coal Derailment

 
Site Contact:
Greg Harper
Federal On-Scene Coordinator

(harper.greg@epa.gov)

Site Location:
400 Block Wolf Coal Road
Mile Post 217
Wolf Coal, KY 41393
 response.epa.gov/csxwolfcoal
NRC#: 1138966

On January 26, 2016, A CSX freight train struck a rock slide and lost 5,520 gallons of diesel fuel and lube oil at Mile Post 217 in Whick, Breathitt County, KY. The derailment was adjacent to the North Fork of the Kentucky River and fuel impacted the river. CSX mobilized resources and contractors to remediate the release. The locomotives were hauling empty coal cars. Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection (KYDEP) requested EPA Region 4 assistance due to the amount of fuel released and the proximity to the river. OSC Harper was deployed from Atlanta and integrated into Unified Command with CSX and KYDEP. EPA Superfund Technical Assessment and Response Team (START) contractors were also deployed. Downstream drinking water facility was notified and KYDEP is assisting with water samples from the river upstream of the water treatment plant and both raw and finished water sampling.


Ice sheet along the toe of the embankment where diesel was observed Equipment working on righting Engine 479 A trailing, empty coal hopper with a view of the boulder from the landslide in the background on the right. Empty coal hopper cars at the end of the train line, still upright Engine 479 after being righted and placed back on the track. Diesel sheen on the water surface, seen at the toe slope of the embankment below the derail site. Empty, piled up coal hopper cars with the mountain face in the background. Engine 546 being righted for placement on the tracks. Face of the mountain where the landslide occurred, with empty coal hopper cars in the foreground. Equipment moving the hopper cars out of the right of way so the new track could be built. The large boulder from the landslide to the right of the track Attempt at trying to drill sections off the boulder Water intake where the sample was collected, at the Jackson City Water Treatment Plant Outtake sample location, located in the lab of the Jackson City Water Treatment Plant Actual water intake located approximately a mile upstream of the Jackson City Water Treatment Plant Additional hard boom being deployed downstream of the derailment site New track being built where the boulder from the landslide once stood. The rubble left over after the boulder from the landslide is blasted. Pink ice formations on the ground near the derailment site. Boulder from landslide next to the track. Track with empty coal hopper cars to the side Investigative hole dug in an effort to locate the diesel that leaked from the two engines. New track being laid down. Stockpile of excavated dirt near derailment site A fish potentially affected by the diesel spill found along the embankment near the derailment site
For additional information, visit the Pollution/Situation Report (Pol/Sitreps) section.