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EPA Completes Work at Site of Train Accident

Release Date: 04/13/2001
Contact Information: Mark Merchant, EPA Press Office (617-918-1013)

WESTMINSTER, VT. – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced it has completed initial emergency work at the site of a train accident in Westminster, Vermont. But the cleanup and study of the effects of the diesel fuel and other contaminants spilled into the river during the accident – an effort involving several state agencies from Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, the federal government and private contractors – continues.

The accident occurred Monday at 6 a.m. when three locomotives hauling more than 80 freight cars went off the tracks in Westminster, across the Connecticut River from Walpole, N.H. One locomotive and a dozen cars fell down an embankment into the river. A second locomotive and several other cars came to rest on the river bank.

The EPA now estimates between 3,000 and 4,000 gallons of diesel fuel and 200 gallons of crankcase oil leaked from the locomotives into the river or onto its bank. Initial estimates were that as much as 6,000 gallons of diesel fuel was spilled, but that estimate was reduced after further investigation between Monday and Thursday.

Six of the freight cars involved in the accident contained road salt, and several of those cars spilled part of their loads onto the river bank or into the river. Each car carried as much as 100 tons of salt. However far less was spilled. At this time, EPA does not have an estimate of how much salt was spilled, but preliminary reports show that the salt did not have a significant impact on the river.

After the accident, three booms designed to capture the fuel were floated in the river around the locomotives and train cars. Booms were placed downstream from the accident but had to be removed later because of ice floes. EPA estimates, however, that the booms at the accident site captured approximately 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel. More was vacuumed up from around the accident site by Clean Harbors, the private company hired to do the cleanup work.

Areas of the river bank contaminated by diesel fuel and salt were also removed. It is not known how much diesel and salt were contained in the removed soil. Efforts to further evaluate and clean up the area will continue.

A sheen was seen down river as far away as Brattleboro. Cleanup efforts were helped in part by warm, sunny weather that evaporated some of the fuel that escaped the containment booms and a river moving very swiftly because of the springtime snowmelt. That served to dilute the diesel fuel in the environment.

The cleanup costs will be borne by the railroad company, New England Central Freight. It is not yet known how high they will be.

The focus now shifts to examining the short- and long-term impacts of the spill on the ecosystem of the river and surrounding areas. Diesel fuel can cause fish kills, as can high levels of salt in freshwater environments. The feathers of waterfowl can become contaminated with diesel, as well. When the birds clean their feathers, they ingest the fuel and that can be fatal.

Examinations of the river after the spill, however, showed no signs of a fish or waterfowl kill down stream from the accident scene, and state and federal officials do not feel there is any future threat to fish or waterfowl as a result of the accident. Water samples taken Tuesday by New Hampshire officials that tested for contaminants from diesel fuel and road salt show levels well below the maximums allowed under the federal Clean Water Act.

"This was a very serious spill. But it appears the impact and damage to the environment was far less than it could have been," said Ira Leighton, acting regional administrator of EPA New England. "We dodged a bullet."

Leighton also cited the outstanding work of the Westminster Volunteer Fire Department headed by Chief Real Bazin as a major factor in getting the spill quickly contained. Many other fire departments in the area also helped in the effort, and Leighton said there were countless other local volunteers who worked untold hours in the days after the accident, helping in the containment and cleanup.

"Without their help, it may have been a very different situation along the Connecticut River," he said.

The river will be monitored over time for any impact, particularly from the fuel, by officials from the states of Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps operates a fish hatchery in Hadley, Mass.

Additional contacts:

• Chuck Knox, New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, 603-271-3503
• James Bressor, Vermont Department of Environmental Services, 802-241-3512
• Joe Ferson, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protections, 617-292-5845
• Larry Rosenberg, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 978-318-8111
• Diane Weaver, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, 413-253-832