Oil-train derailment, fire damaged OR city water system

A damaged oil train auto can be seen on the afternoon of Saturday, June 4, 2016, at the site of the oil train derailment that occurred on Friday in Moseir, Ore. The accident happened just after noon about 70 miles east of Portland.

I-84 has reopened but the Mosier exits remain closed.

(Mark B. Gibson/The Dalles Chronicle via AP). At least one train wreck involving treated Bakken oil did not result in a fire, when 22 cars derailed and 35,000 gallons of oil spilled near Culbertson, Montana, last July.

A May 2015 derailment near Heimdal, North Dakota, involved cars carrying oil that had been treated to reduce the volatility, but the crude still ignited.

The Oregon Department of Transportation originally said 11 cars in the 96-car train derailed, but updated that number to 14 cars Saturday morning. From KATU’s Chopper 2, however, it was clear that more than one auto was on fire – perhaps as many as four.

At first light this morning, a light sheen of oil was observed about six feet offshore in the Columbia River at the mouth of Rock Creek. Approximately 1,000 feet of containment boom was used to contain the sheen.

According to the Oregon Department of Transportation, one vehicle is fully engulfed in flames and another one is on fire. She crews are now investigating an oil sheen discovered on the Columbia River.

Organizers said they are asking the president and federal lawmakers to support a ban on oil train shipments through the Columbia River Gorge and other US communities and are calling on governors in Washington and OR to deny proposed oil train terminals in the Pacific Northwest.

Spokesman Justin Jacobs said Saturday the track about 70 miles east of Portland had been inspected at least 6 times since March 21.

It was most recently inspected Tuesday, and within the past month, the company had also checked for imperfections and inspected the ground along the track.

A failure of the fastener between the railroad tie and the line was likely the problem, but more investigation will be required before railroad officials know for sure, Raquel Espinoza said Sunday. It also wasn’t clear if the tank cars in the accident had been retrofitted under the new rules.

In this photo provided by Silas Bleakley, tank cars, carrying oil, are derailed Friday, June 3, 2016, near Mosier, Ore.

The blaze has since been extinguished, said Maia Bellon, director of the Washington Department of Ecology, in a post on Twitter. The booms are meant to contain any oil that may seep into the river from a Union Pacific oil train that derailed near Mosier, Ore., on Friday. It forced the evacuation of a mobile home park with about 50 homes, though federal officials say they expect that order to be lifted later Saturday.

More than 100 people rallied and marched in nearby Hood River, Oregon, on Saturday to call for a halt to the practice.