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.
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.
Removal actions prescribed by the Work Plan were completed by CN contractors on September 17, 2008.
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.
Community relations continue to be a high priority for CN and the responding agency officials. Residents have numerous questions regarding the process for closure.
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