© Sioux County Sheriff’s Office / Facebook
The 33-car freight train carrying oil from Alberta, Canada, derailed on Friday morning near Doon in Lyon County, Iowa. The BNSF Railway Company has not revealed how much oil the tankers were carrying, and said it doesn't know how much oil has leaked, but that a clean-up is underway.
Some of the cars soon began leaking crude oil into the Little Rock River floodwaters, prompting an evacuation of nearby houses and sparking fears of drinking water contamination. A number of towns downriver from the spill take their drinking water from nearby wells. Within hours, the oil had spread five miles downriver.
© Sioux County Sheriff’s Office / Facebook
Reader Comments
yeah, it is a mess. the good news is that oil does not mix with water. (but you knew that )
from the picture, it is very clear what happened.. the *&^%ing track washed out.
I am not sure what is worse a train carrying crude oil traveling at 60 mph on a long distance of track that is probably not regularly monitored and suddenly derailed leaving an impact on the environment that will take years to recover. Or, a pipeline that may have a leak or two.
"Officials say they don't know what caused the train to go off the rails, although a local, Jacob Faber, told the Des Moines Register that there was water on the train tracks ."
Could you imagine if there was a penny on the track?