Around 11:25 a.m. Saturday a westbound BNSF coal train bound for Minnesota Power’s Boswell Energy Center at Cohasset, Minn., derailed 40 cars near Draco siding west of Cloquet on the railroad’s ex-Great Northern Lakes Subdivision. BNSF spokeswoman Amy McBeth says the train had 121 loaded cars and three locomotives. Several of the derailed cars were on their sides near or partially in the frozen St. Louis River.
Hulcher Services were called in and staged their equipment at Cloquet, about nine miles east of the derailment. BNSF reopened the line around midnight Feb. 17. No one was injured in the derailment and the cause is under investigation.
Today work at the site will continue as BNSF crews’ clear cars and the spilled coal. Throughout the next week or two the derailed cars will be scrapped on site and the coal will be moved out by rail, McBeth says.
In Manitoba, a loaded CN crude oil train derailed 37 cars about 6 miles south of the town of St. Lazare on the Rivers Subdivision at 3:30 a.m. Saturday. There was a “partial leak” of crude oil but it was contained and none reached the nearby Assiniboine River. CN told media outlets there were no reports of injuries or fires, and an environmental team was on scene cleaning up the spill. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has sent investigators to the site of the derailment.
The timing of the derailment could not have been worse. Conservative party leaders were holding a pro-pipeline rally near St. Lazare Saturday, with supporters of moving oil via pipelines arguing it’s a safer alternative to shipping by rail.
“CN’s environmental experts are continuing the clean-up of the site of Saturday morning’s derailment near St-Lazare, MB. None of the product has entered the Assiniboine River. Train movements resumed at 12 pm local time on Sunday. The cause of this incident is under investigation,” says spokesman Jonathan Abecassis.
“CN apologizes for the inconveniences caused by our unfortunate derailment and would like to thank the first responders who attended the derailment site.
“Today, CN Executive Vice President Sean Finn, spoke directly with Mr. Jayme Corr, the owner of the Ranch near St-Lazare, MB, where the derailment occurred on Saturday morning, to discuss how best to remedy any damages stemming from the derailment and to reassure him that we will be working closely with him and his family in the coming days.”
I hope the CN BitPux develops quickly to end the possibility of oil contamination and fires from derailment of oil trains.
The story failed to mention, as posted in Canadian media, that the farmer on whose property the cars landed had to evacuate his herd of cattle over fears their water supply had been contaminated. This kind of argues against the coincidence idea, as very many of the conservative protester would also be supporters of the agricultural industry.
Based on past experiences, I think TRAINS editors should keep an ear to the ground for fallout from this farm animal evacuation, as these issues have grown legs of their own in the past, in Western Canada.
Paul Bouzide, yes it is PRB coal. BNSF has been routing those coal trains east of Dilworth to Staples and up through Brainerd, MN to Superior, WI. Then back west to Cohasset. Normalizing they go north of Fargo to Grand Forks then east. I m an engineer out of Mandan, ND. I run those coal trains to Dilworth occasionally. Haven’t heard the exact reason.
Does anyone know the Cohasset routing? I assume it’s PRB coal and yes the loads would be westbound at Cloquet, but it seems circuitous.
I agree Curt, could be more than bad timing.
Of the CN derailment and nearby meeting, that is.
Makes you wonder about the “coincidental” timing…