Work continues to retrieve empty grain cars derailed by a mudslide near the North Pacific Cannery this week, but the BC Government has confirmed that the locomotive that had leaked diesel has now been successfully recovered and removed from the site. Both the tracks and the nearby road have now reopened, with additional personnel and experts now on their way.
It the latest update provided by CN Rail, it’s been confirmed that the retrieval of the locomotive was yesterday’s focus. The train tracks needed to be reconstructed to allow for the heavy equipment needed to proceed with the recovery efforts, with further effort required to recover some of the remaining cars from the banks of the Inverness Passage.
Clean-up and containment efforts also continue, with the addition of a Vac-Truck alongside the West Coast Marine Response Corporation’s Eagle Bay Skimmer vessel yesterday. Special attention has been paid to the drainage ditch below the locomotive itself, with absorbent materials in place at the culvert outfall into inverness passage.
While The BC Government’s Spill Report estimates 1000 liters of fuel had been released from the derailed locomotive, with a localized diesel sheen visible within Inverness Passage since the derailment, exactly how much fuel has leaked, and how much of it impacted the watercourse is not yet know. Work continues today to find those answers.
CN Rail says they believe the bulk of the fuel is trapped within the mud around the locomotive on the banks of the river.
Meanwhile in the latest statement from Lax Kw’alaams, the band government says they are still waiting to hear a comprehensive plan to address the spill from CN itself.
