Around 11:25 a.m. Saturday a westbound BNSF coal train bound for Minnesota Power’s Boswell Energy Center at Cohasset, Minn., derailed 40 cars near Draco siding west of Cloquet on the railroad’s ex-Great Northern Lakes Subdivision. BNSF spokeswoman Amy McBeth says the train had 121 loaded cars and three locomotives. Several of the derailed cars were on their sides near or partially in the frozen St. Louis River.
Hulcher Services were called in and staged their equipment at Cloquet, about nine miles east of the derailment. BNSF reopened the line around midnight Feb. 17. No one was injured in the derailment and the cause is under investigation.
Today work at the site will continue as BNSF crews’ clear cars and the spilled coal. Throughout the next week or two the derailed cars will be scrapped on site and the coal will be moved out by rail, McBeth says.
In Manitoba, a loaded CN crude oil train derailed 37 cars about 6 miles south of the town of St. Lazare on the Rivers Subdivision at 3:30 a.m. Saturday. There was a “partial leak” of crude oil but it was contained and none reached the nearby Assiniboine River. CN told media outlets there were no reports of injuries or fires, and an environmental team was on scene cleaning up the spill. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has sent investigators to the site of the derailment.
The timing of the derailment could not have been worse. Conservative party leaders were holding a pro-pipeline rally near St. Lazare Saturday, with supporters of moving oil via pipelines arguing it’s a safer alternative to shipping by rail.
“CN’s environmental experts are continuing the clean-up of the site of Saturday morning’s derailment near St-Lazare, MB. None of the product has entered the Assiniboine River. Train movements resumed at 12 pm local time on Sunday. The cause of this incident is under investigation,” says spokesman Jonathan Abecassis.
“CN apologizes for the inconveniences caused by our unfortunate derailment and would like to thank the first responders who attended the derailment site.
“Today, CN Executive Vice President Sean Finn, spoke directly with Mr. Jayme Corr, the owner of the Ranch near St-Lazare, MB, where the derailment occurred on Saturday morning, to discuss how best to remedy any damages stemming from the derailment and to reassure him that we will be working closely with him and his family in the coming days.”
