CN derailment poses “no measurable risk to the community”: Police Chief
No one was injured when a Canadian National Railroad train hauling over 100 crude oil cars derailed in Plainfield Illinois on Friday evening.
Cleanup efforts are currently underway after two of the cars leaked as much as 45,000 gallons of oil leaked from two cars following the CN derailment.
According to the Chicago Tribune, rail and environmental officials stressed there were no signs that any of the crude leaked into the DuPage River, which is about 1,200 feet away from the site of the derailment.
Firefighters used foam to contain the leaked oil.
The Tribune reports at a news conference on Saturday, Plainfield police Chief John Konopek said “We believe by all standards that there is no measurable risk to the community.”
The CN derailment occurred around 6:30 p.m. on Friday as the 115 car train rolled through Plainfield, located 35 miles southwest of Chicago.
According to Jim Kvedaras, director of US government affairs for CN, 20 cars left the track and began at the train’s 75th car. He added the two cars that leaked had punctures that were described as walnut- and wrist-sized.
Michael Beslow, an on-scene coordinator with the US EPA says one of the cars lost its entire cargo of 30,000 gallons of crude while the second lost about half its cargo.
Beslow said the EPA had not found any signs of oil in nearby waterways and air monitoring did not suggest any problems, despite the strong smell of crude.
The CN derailment occurred near where crews were digging a trench for a natural gas pipeline and much of the spilled crude ended up in the excavation site.
“If this had to happen in Plainfield, it’s very fortunate that it happened where it happened,” Konopek said. The derailment did not occur near a residential area and no one was in “harm’s way.”
Cleanup is expected to take a few days. The Tribune reports there are officials from 30 different federal, state, local and private agencies on-site working to clean up the damage.
The derailment resulted in significant damage to the rail line and the cause of the accident remains under investigation.
The CN train was carrying crude for Exxon Mobil to Louisiana.
