St. Paul train derailment leaks diesel fuel into the Mississippi River
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Union Pacific said one of its locomotives slipped off the track on a bridge over the Mississippi Wednesday morning and spilled 3,200 gallons of diesel fuel into the river.
Railroad spokesperson Kristen South said that the incident happened about 2 a.m. on Wednesday as a pair of locomotives was crossing the Hoffman Bridge between two of the railroad's St. Paul classification yards.
One of the locomotive's wheels slipped off the track and sprang a leak in its low-slung fuel tank, letting diesel fuel pour out onto the bridge and into the water below.
A cleanup is underway.
"That cleanup involves deploying boom in the water. The furthest piece of boom is about eight miles downriver. At this point we have seen no evidence of diesel past that point," said South. "We also have some boats in the water with specialized equipment that can suction or collect the pooled samples of diesel."
No one was injured in the derailment, and the locomotives weren't pulling any cars at the time. The Environmental Protection Agency and the state of Minnesota are monitoring the cleanup.
The river is closed to barge traffic temporarily, and the railroad said an inspection is planned Wednesday. It isn't clear when the river will open to traffic or the bridge will reopen.
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