Photo: Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office / Courtesy
The authorities reported that on Saturday a train carrying potentially hazardous materials derailed and a bridge collapsed over the Yellowstone River in Montanaraising concerns about possible contamination.
Railway officials said that two railcars carrying sodium hydrosulfate, which can burn, irritate and cause shortness of breath, had not entered the Yellowstone River below the failed bridge that used to cross the waterway.
There was no release of hazardous materials from those particular cars.said Andy Garland, a spokesman for Montana Rail Link.
But an unspecified number of other railcars containing molten sulfur and asphalt had been “compromised”he said in a statement.
Officials would continue to monitor the derailment site, he said.
No injuries were reported, according to authorities.
As many as eight cars had derailed, Columbus, Montana, Fire Chief Rich Cowger told Billings-based NBC affiliate KULR.
The transfer of the nearest sodium hydrosulfide wagon to the river was underway on Sunday morning. The car remains safely out of the water and there has been no release related to this material, Garland said.
“We continue to closely monitor all emissions involving molten sulfur and asphalt and to mitigate any impacts on the site and surrounding area. These two substances harden and solidify rapidly when they interact with water and the modeling suggests that significant movement of material downstream is unlikely.”
Billings said it would shut off the city’s water system intakes fed by the Yellowstone River for as long as any contaminants would need to pass and end up downstream, according to a statement.
Billings, a city of nearly 110,000, has a clean supply of drinking water in its system, including full storage tanks.
Water treatment plants in Yellowstone County were operating normally as officials monitored the river for signs of contaminants, county officials said in a statement.
“At this time no negative impacts have been reported in Yellowstone County,” his government said in a statement in the afternoon.
The derailment and collapse of the bridge happened around 6 am near the community of Reed Point, according to officials in Stillwater County, which borders Yellowstone County.
The National Transportation Safety Board said in a statement late Saturday that it will send an investigation team to the site of the derailment. The Federal Railroad Administration is leading the investigation, the NTSB said.
Authorities have not indicated whether the derailment caused the bridge to collapse or whether the collapse precipitated the derailment.
The incident on Twin Bridges Road between the cities of Reed Point and Columbus has caused the closure of some public access points to the Yellowstone and Stillwater rivers, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks said Saturday.
State officials advise the public to avoid parts of the Yellowstone River because of “potential contaminants.”
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