Wisconsin homes evacuated after train derailment, crude oil leak

A second train derailment in two days occurred in Wisconsin spilling crude oil and prompting a few evacuations.

Earlier on Sunday, the BNSF Railway Co mentioned its crews had stanched the circulate of ethanol from a freight practice that derailed on Saturday about one hundred forty miles (220 km) away in Alma, Wisconsin, after hundreds of gallons of the denatured alcohol leaked into the Mississippi River. One of the cars was punctured, spilling less than 1,000 gallons of oil. Luckily, the incidents did not result in any injuries.

A 13-car oil tanker derailment in Watertown on Sunday stopped Amtrak in its tracks, with passengers of the famed Empire Builder train getting bused between Minneapolis and Chicago to bypass the crash.

The Canadian Pacific train was carrying crude oil, spilling a few of its contents. The spill was contained and the oil did not reach any waterways, he said.

BNSF Railway said the cause of the derailment is still unknown but officials said they hope to reopen the affected track sometime Monday evening. A few of the 25 derailed cars were empty auto racks and tanker cars.

This weekend’s ethanol spill was the third this year along a stretch of the Mississippi River, said Irving Balto, a member of the La Crosse chapter of Citizens Acting for Rail Safety, a citizen advocacy group.

Those evacuated were sent to hotel rooms, Cummings said.

Sarah Zarling has become a close watcher of oil trains since February, when she realized her Watertown, Wis., house was in the blast zone if a train derailed and caught fire.

BNSF said the railroad is working to contain the spill, but it didn’t say how much ethanol has leaked so far.

Federal Railroad Administration regional administrator Steven Illich said there was no reason to believe the Watertown derailment was anything but an accident.

CBS Minnesota reported that local hunters were the first to realise the train had derailed on 7 November. The derailment prompted a highway closure and voluntary evacuations of area residents.

Police say they evacuated those near the derailment site as a precaution and shutdown Wis. Hwys 35 and 37 for more than five hours Saturday.

5 of the tanker vehicles launched ethanol into the MS, the corporate stated.

“There will be metallurgic tests that will be done, not only on the rails, but on the wheels on the train cars”, Illich said.