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35,000 Gallons of Oil Spills After Train Derailment Near Culbertson

No one was injured in the derailment and officials say there are no fires at the site

By Justin Franz

CULBERTSON — Three tank cars leaked an estimated 35,000 gallons of oil after a train hauling crude from North Dakota derailed in rural northeastern Montana, the latest in a series of wrecks raising concerns across the U.S. and Canada, authorities said Friday.

No one was reported injured in the accident Thursday night that temporarily led to the evacuation of some homes and followed recent oil train crashes including a 2013 derailment in Quebec that exploded and killed 47 people.

A hazardous-materials team contained the spill with earthen dams, and oil did not affect any waterways, according to a preliminary report by Michael Turnbull of the U.S. Department of Transportation to Montana’s Public Service Commission.

Unlike many prior accidents, no explosions or fire were reported after the Burlington Northern Santa Fe train derailed about 5 miles east of the small town of Culbertson, near the North Dakota border.

But about 30 people were evacuated from their homes within a half-mile radius, Turnbull said. That order was lifted Friday morning.

There was no immediate explanation of what caused more than 20 cars to topple from the train, which had 106 loaded crude oil tank cars, two buffer cars and four locomotives. The tank cars typically haul about 30,000 gallons of oil apiece.

Two days ago, a BNSF train carrying a mixed cargo derailed about 20 miles away from Thursday’s accident, damaging about a mile of track. There was no connection between the derailments, railroad spokesman Matt Jones said.

The latest accident knocked over a power line, and firefighters planned to spray foam on the wreckage to prevent a fire, Roosevelt County Chief Deputy Sheriff Corey Reum said.

“We’re lucky it didn’t ignite,” Reum said.

Under a rule enacted in April, oil being shipped from North Dakota must be treated to reduce the chances of an explosion — by removing some of the volatile gases found in crude from the region. It was not immediately known if the shipment involved in Thursday’s accident had gone through that process.

It forced the closure of U.S. Highway 2, the region’s main artery, which was expected to stay shut through much of Friday, Reum said.

Investigators from the Federal Railroad Administration were on site, agency spokesman Michael Booth said, along with police and other responders. BNSF’s response crews arrived late Thursday.

Roosevelt County is situated along one of the main corridors for Bakken oil shipments bound for refineries on the West Coast. About 12 BNSF oil trains a week pass through the county, according to information submitted by the railroad to state emergency officials.

U.S. transportation officials recently extended an order for railroads to notify states about shipments of hazardous crude-oil shipments and put in place new rules that require sturdier construction of tank cars hauling hazardous liquids. Critics have said the rules do not do enough to keep cars on the tracks and prevent derailments.

In addition to the 2013 Quebec accident, in which much of the town of Lac-Megantic was incinerated, trains hauling crude from the Bakken region of North Dakota and Montana have been involved in fiery derailments in Alabama, Illinois, Virginia, Oklahoma and North Dakota.

A timeline recent oil train crashes in the US and Canada

The derailment of an oil train in rural northeastern Montana follows a string of accidents as shipments of crude by rail have increased dramatically in recent years, driven by a surge in domestic production:

July 5, 2013: A runaway Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway train that had been left unattended derailed, spilling oil and catching fire inside the town of Lac-Megantic in Quebec. Forty-seven people were killed and 30 buildings burned in the town’s center. About 1.6 million gallons of oil was spilled. The oil was being transported from the Bakken region of North Dakota, the heart of an oil fracking boom, to a refinery in Canada.

Nov. 8, 2013: An oil train from North Dakota derailed and exploded near Aliceville, Alabama. There were no deaths, but an estimated 749,000 gallons of oil spilled from 26 tanker cars.

Dec. 30, 2013: A fire engulfed tank cars loaded with oil on a Burlington Northern Santa Fe train after a collision about a mile from Casselton, North Dakota. No one was injured, but more than 2,000 residents were evacuated as emergency responders struggled with the intense fire.

Jan. 7, 2014: A 122-car Canadian National Railway train derailed in New Brunswick, Canada. Three cars containing propane and one car transporting crude oil from western Canada exploded after the derailment, creating intense fires that burned for days. About 150 residents were evacuated.

Jan. 20, 2014: Seven CSX train cars, six of them containing oil from the Bakken region, derailed on a bridge over the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. The bridge is near the University of Pennsylvania, a highway and three hospitals. No oil was spilled and no one was injured. The train from Chicago was more than 100 cars long.

April 30, 2014: Fifteen cars of a crude oil train derailed in Lynchburg, Virginia, near a railside eatery and a pedestrian waterfront, sending flames and black smoke into the air. Nearly 30,000 gallons of oil were spilled into the James River.

Feb. 14, 2015: A 100-car Canadian National Railway train hauling crude oil and petroleum distillates derailed in a remote part of Ontario, Canada. The blaze it ignited burned for days.

Feb. 16, 2015: A 109-car CSX oil train derailed and caught fire near Mount Carbon, West Virginia, leaking oil into a Kanawha River tributary and burning a house to its foundation. The blaze burned for most of week.

March 10, 2015: Twenty-one cars of a 105-car Burlington Northern Santa Fe train hauling oil from the Bakken region of North Dakota derailed about 3 miles outside Galena, Illinois, a town of about 3,000 in the state’s northwest corner.

March 7, 2015: A 94-car Canadian National Railway crude oil train derailed about 3 miles outside the northern Ontario town of Gogama. The resulting fire destroyed a bridge. The accident was 23 miles from the Feb. 14 derailment.

May 6, 2015: A 109-car Burlington Northern Santa Fe crude oil train derails near Heimdal, North Dakota. Six cars exploded into flames and an estimated 60,000 gallons of oil spilled.

July 16, 2015: More than 20 cars from a 108-car Burlington Northern Santa Fe oil train derailed east of Culbertson, Montana, spilling an estimated 35,000 gallons of oil.