News & Reviews News Wire BNSF derailment spills fuel in Washington state

BNSF derailment spills fuel in Washington state

By Trains Staff | March 17, 2023

| Last updated on February 5, 2024

Overturned locomotives spill about 2,500 gallons of diesel fuel

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Locomotive on its side at night
Two locomotives overturned in a BNSF derailment Thursday in Anacortes, Wash., leading to a spill of diesel fuel. Washington Department of Ecology via Facebook

ANACORTES, Wash. — Two locomotives and at least one railcar of a BNSF Railway train derailed early Thursday morning near Anacortes, leading to a spill of fuel from the overturned diesels, the Seattle Times reports.

No injuries were reported. The railroad said the cause of the derailment was under investigation

The Washington Department of Ecology, which initially reported about 5,000 gallons of fuel spilled at the accident site on the Swinomish Reservation, later revised that estimate to 2,500 gallons. The derailment occurred on a berm, the department said in a Facebook post, with most of the fuel spilling on the land side of the location adjacent to Padilla Bay.

Contractors were working Thursday afternoon to remove soil contaminated by the spilled fuel. The rail line was expected to be back in service sometime today (Friday, March 17).

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