United States Environmental Protection Agency
Region V
POLLUTION REPORT



Date:
Monday, September 29, 2008
From:
Tom Cook/ Kathy Clayton

To:
Beverly Kush, U.S. EPA ERB
Jason El-Zein, EPA R5
Mick Hans, U.S. EPA
Mike Harris, US EPA Region 5
Linda Nachowicz, U.S.EPA
Roxanne Chronert, WDNR
Jason Moeller, WDNR
Patrick Ryan, USCG

Subject: 

Final POLREP
Oshkosh Train Derailment
Waukau Ave and County Road I, Oshkosh, WI
Latitude: 43.9764000
Longitude: -88.5378000


POLREP No.:
3
Site #:
Reporting Period:
6/20/08 - 9/29/08
D.O. #:
Start Date:
6/13/2008
Response Authority:
OPA
Mob Date:
6/13/2008
Response Type:
Emergency
Demob Date:
6/28/2008
NPL Status:
Non NPL
Completion Date:
9/29/2008
Incident Category:
Removal Action
CERCLIS ID #:
Contract #
RCRIS ID #:
Reimbursable Account #
FPN#
E08509
 

Site Description

At approximately 1:00 am on June 13, 2008, a northbound train in Oshkosh, Winnebago County, Wisconsin derailed due to flooding in the area.  One locomotive and two cars were involved.  Approximately 1,200 gallons of diesel and oil product leaked from the wreckage into Johnson Creek which leads into Lake Winnebago.  The majority of the contamination impacted Johnson Creek and several residential homes along the creek.

The Responsible Party (RP), CN Railroad, hired Veolia Environmental Services to deploy boom and sorbent pads to contain the release, recover petroleum product from the creek and the wrecked locomotive (with vacuum trucks), remove petroleum contaminated soil and debris along the creek, and decontaminate riprap.

The tracks were repaired and train traffic resumed at approximately 11:30 pm on June 13, 2008.  The derailed locomotive and boxcars were removed by CN on June 18, 2008.


Current Activities

OSC Clayton remained on-site to oversee the continual collection of released petroleum product until June 28, 2008.  At the time of demobilization, over 3,000 feet of boom had been deployed and approximately 240 tons of oily debris had been removed.  A combination of sorbent and hard deflective boom was maintained in approximately a dozen locations along the creek to protect Lake Winnebago.  The remaining booms were removed from Johnson Creek and the inlet to Lake Winnebago on September 10, 2008, after the third significant rainfall with no observable sheen on the water surface.  Restoration activities on the impacted properties were completed by CN contractors on September 17, 2008.  Two additional culverts have been installed (to augment the existing culvert) where the track washout occurred.


Planned Removal Actions

Removal actions prescribed by the Work Plan were completed by CN contractors on September 17, 2008.


Next Steps

WDNR will consider requests for closure for impacted properties along Johnson Creek. Residents will receive letters explaining the soil sample results, including background sample comparisons, for their property from CN and WDNR.


Key Issues

Community relations continue to be a high priority for CN and the responding agency officials.  Residents have numerous questions regarding the process for closure.


Estimated Costs *
  Budgeted Total To Date Remaining % Remaining
Extramural Costs
RST/START $22,000.00 $21,500.00 $500.00 2.27%
Intramural Costs
USEPA - Direct (Region, HQ) $13,000.00 $13,000.00 $0.00 0.00%
 
Total Site Costs $35,000.00 $34,500.00 $500.00 1.43%

* The above accounting of expenditures is an estimate based on figures known to the OSC at the time this report was written. The OSC does not necessarily receive specific figures on final payments made to any contractor(s). Other financial data which the OSC must rely upon may not be entirely up-to-date. The cost accounting provided in this report does not necessarily represent an exact monetary figure which the government may include in any claim for cost recovery.


response.epa.gov/OshkoshTrainDerailment

POLREP #3 Last Updated 9/29/2008