SALEM, Va. — Norfolk Southern will pay a $27,300 fine for a coal spill into the Roanoke River resulting from a 2020 derailment, the Roanoke Times reports.
The agreement between NS and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality stems from an Oct. 30, 2020, derailment of 26 hopper cars that sent 12 cars into the river, leading the agency to issue a notice of violation [see “Digest: Amtrak, NJ Transit remain on modified schedules …,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 3, 2021]. Some coal and debris ended up as far as 6.5 miles down stream; more than 1,300 tons of coal were eventual were removed from the river, the Department of Environmental Quality said.
No one was injured in the derailment, which occurred when the river was swollen by heavy rains and involved the collapse of a railroad bridge into the river.
