Mosier Train Derailment Environmental Cleanup Progressing

Officials say all oil has been "transloaded" from the site.

The remaining rail cars are being cleaned and decontaminated, and are being trucked to Portland for recycling. Photo: ODOT

(MOSIER, Ore.) - On June 3, sixteen tanker cars carrying Bakken crude oil derailed, four of those cars caught fire releasing an estimated 42,000 gallons of crude oil into the environment. The cars were part of a 96-car train carrying Bakken crude oil to Tacoma, Wash.

The derailment also damaged and contaminated the Mosier wastewater treatment plant. An estimated 10,000 gallons of oil were removed from the wastewater treatment plant and cleaning of the plant continues.

A temporary bypass system is operating while the city works to rebuild the wastewater treatment plant. The city's wastewater is being collected and trucked to the Hood River wastewater treatment plant.

It is estimated that the remaining 32,000 gallons of oil released to the environment were either burned off and vaporized, captured by booms in the Columbia River, or absorbed by soil.

Booms remain in place in the Columbia River and Rock Creek as a precautionary measure but no new signs of oil sheen have been seen on the river or other waterways.

Union Pacific has identified a preliminary cause of the crash, saying a bolt that fastens the rail to the railroad ties may have been at fault. But the final determination of the cause has not been made.

Rail traffic resumed through Mosier Sunday, June 5, with trains limited to 10 mph.

Crews successfully and safely completed transloading all oil from derailed tank cars off-site overnight Tuesday. A total of 13 cars were offloaded.

The recovered oil was transferred by truck to The Dalles and now staged for transport by rail to Tacoma, Wash., its original destination at a date to be determined.

As of Wednesday morning, crews have cleaned and decontaminated all of the derailed cars. Today through end of the week, the empty tanker cars will be transported by truck to Portland.

Once the rail cars have been removed, crews will begin removing contaminated soil and continue other environmental cleanup and monitoring activities.

A drinking water advisory was lifted Monday, June 6 after water tests confirmed that the water is safe to drink. Tests have not yet confirmed the water is safe to drink for two homes on Rock Creek Road that remain under a boil water advisory.

Crews continue to carefully monitor air and water quality around the derailment site.

Federal, state, tribal, and local authorities remain at the command center near the scene to coordinate response.

Sources: News Release from ODOT: PDX, Mt. Hood; Oregon DEQ Mosier website