Crews responded to a train derailment involving several cars near New Hazelton last Friday.
The incident involving 27 cars pulled by a westbound coal train happened at about 8 a.m. Shortly after the incident, a CN spokesperson said in an email that there were no reports of injuries and no dangerous goods involved.
The cars were carrying approximately 100 tons of coal each. Each car has lost at least part of their load.
CN reported Saturday the majority of the coal had remained on the railroad’s right of way; however, some had left the right of way and was on top of a frozen creek called Station Creek (also known as Mission Creek). Protective measures were taken to stop the coal from entering the running water.
Onsite water monitoring took place over the weekend. Results of the water monitoring and sampling were not available by press time.
By Sunday, the bulk of the spilled coal had been removed from the ice on Station Creek. A full train track closure occurred Sunday from 4 p.m. until midnight to allow crews to remove the wrecked coal train cars that were near the creek.
According to Emergency Management B.C., additional sediment fencing and crews with handtools were ready to deal with any coal that could be moved towards the water during the recovery of the wrecked cars. Crews were also working to divert some of the stream flow away from the coal that had entered the water so it could be safely removed.
Doug Donaldson, Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources and Rural Development, toured the incident site last Saturday.
The Ministry of Environment is drafting an order to issue to CN to ensure the proper steps are taken to mitigate any impacts. One environmental emergency response officer remained onsite to monitor the cleanup.
The cause of the incident remains under investigation.
Another CN train derailed on Dec. 8 near the Bulkley Canyon east of New Hazelton. CN then said the 50 coal cars were empty in that incident.
