2.1.1 Narrative
In the hours following the derailment, firefighters focused on accessing the derailment site to assess the damage to tanker cars, other freight cars, and rail infrastructure. Crews also confirmed the release to the environment. Un-impacted railcars and tankers were removed from the railway to the north and south of the derailment area to establish an access route.
2.1.2 Response Actions to Date
A train list and Safety Data Sheet for the released material was provided by BNSF Railway to the OSC and is posted in the 'documents' section of the website. An incident command post was established by local authorities at the Alma Elementary School located at S1618 State Route 35, Alma, Wisconsin. The incident command post was moved at 1000 on 11/8 to the Alma Marina located at 125 Beach Harbor Rd, Alma, Wisconsin. U.S. EPA, BNSF Railway, BNSF contractors, WDNR, and U.S. F&WS are continuing work on implementing ICS.
Land and water (work barge) access was established into the derailment site. BNSF and their contractors began transferring ethanol from damaged/leaking tankers to intact tankers on site. All observed leaks have been stopped. BNSF's environmental contractor, Pinnacle Engineering, is continuing to sample and monitor Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Conductivity, and Temperature in the river around the site. START is documenting and overseeing all sampling and monitoring activities.
BNSF laid boom around the spill area on both the east and west sides of the tracks. Air sparging equipment is also in place in the River.
One railcar is upright in the River on the west side of the track. The contents of this railcar are currently being transferred. The end of a second rail car is at the water level on the east side of the track. All other ethanol rail cars are on the track, not in contact with the River. All but one of the derailed auto rack cars have been removed from the Site. Crews are also concurrently removing debris and rebuilding the damaged tracks. Operations have been 24 hours/day since the start of the incident.
Downstream drinking water intake managers and US EPA Region 7 have been notified of the derailment and ethanol release.
The derailment site has been mostly cleared of damaged railcars, tank cars and damaged infrastructure. One auto transport car remains on the toe of the ballast and will be removed at a later date still yet to be determined.
Sampling was conducted in the spill area to understand the extent of contaminated ballast and soils. The ballast was replaced and train tracks were repaired early morning on 11/10, trains were running by 0300 on 11/10 . BNSF contractors will delineated the spill radius using a PID and laboratory samples analyzed for BTEX, VOC's, and ethanol. A center point was established in the spill zone and points were collected horizontally and vertically from the central point. The spill area was delineated vertically to a maximum of 5.5 feet bgs and horizontally to a maximum of 20 feet from the center point. The maximum field screen reading for VOC was 351 ppm at the surface and 319 ppm at 5 feet bgs, this reading was taken on the eastern side near the center of the spill area. START collected spilt samples for the EPA and are awaiting the results.
2.1.3 Enforcement Activities, Identity of Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs)
BNSF Railway was issued a Notice of Federal Interest by OSC Maguire on 11/7/2015. BNSF Railway has accepted responsibility for the release and is responding in coordination with federal, state and local response agencies.
2.1.4 Progress Metrics
Cumulative totals (to date) are found in the table below.
Waste Stream |
Medium |
Quantity |
Manifest # |
Treatment |
Disposal |
Denatured alcohol (ethanol) product |
liquid |
TBD |
various |
recovery |
|
Contaminated soil |
solid |
TBD |
various |
landfill |
|
Contaminated water |
liquid |
TBD |
|
treatment |
|
|