PASCO, Wash. (AP) - Washington’s Department of Ecology says BNSF Railway worked quickly to contain a diesel spill on tracks near the Pasco and McNary dam near the Columbia River.
BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas says a BNSF freight train bound from Pasco to Seattle struck a large rock early Friday that had fallen down a cliff and landed on the tracks about 15 miles west of Pasco. The rock punched a hole in the locomotive’s fuel tank, spilling 2,000 gallons of fuel.
Melonas says workers at the site quickly patched the hole and brought in emergency response teams as well as a vacuum truck to remove the remaining fuel from the tank.
Officials say the diesel leaked into the rail bed but none made it to the river. They placed a containment boom in the river as a precaution.
Central Region Response manager Jeff Lewis says “so far no sheen has been spotted in the river.”
Officials say the train was carrying general freight. No one was injured and no cars derailed.
Melonas says the rail line reopened by mid-morning Friday.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.