Train Derailment in West Branch Delaware

[lycoflyfisher]

http://www.wbng.com/story/38846595/train-derailment-in-deposit

There was a train derailment incident this morning on the West Branch, impacts are still unknown.

 

[Fly-Swatter]

The flow at Deposit is still in the black. Hopefully, the high flows will disperse the fuel so the impact may be reduced....hopefully!

 

[krayfish2]

Just got a text from somebody who's been standing down at the shehawken ramp. Lots of debris and it rots of diesel fuel. As mentioned above the only chance of good news is out of this is that the water is very high right now

 

[krayfish2]

From FUDR....


Train Derailment near Deposit, NY

Possible 4000 Gallons of Diesel Fuel Spills to West Branch, Upper Delaware River

At approximately 2:30 this morning a Norfolk/Southern "mixed cargo" train transporting various types of waste derailed just above the Hale Eddy Bridge, on the West Branch of the Upper Delaware River, near Deposit, NY.

Highly visible diesel fuel slicks and strong fuel odors have been detected as far south as Lordville, NY and likely much further downstream. The derailment occurred at a time when the Upper Delaware region has experienced recent torrential rainstorms, in addition to high releases from the NYC Delaware basin reservoirs.

FUDR is in touch with the NYSDEC and other first responders and here's what we know:
NYSDEC is reporting that the train was carrying an estimated 4000 gallons of diesel fuel and a "large percentage" has spilled into the river.
At least two rail cars are in the river.
According to NYSDEC they believe the cars in the river are either empty or contain construction and demolition debris.
NYSDEC Region 4 emergency spill team, fisheries, law enforcement, and drones are on site.
High water makes it difficult to capture fuel; responders are looking for eddies and pooled up areas to address first.
National Park Service officials are on site.
We will keep you posted as more information comes in.


For the river,


Jeff Skelding, Executive Director
skelding@fudr.org
410-245-8021

To Become an FUDR Member, Click Here

To protect, preserve and enhance the cold-water ecosystem of the Upper Delaware River Watershed and to address any environmental threats to our area for the benefit of local communities, residents and visitors to the region.


Friends of the Upper Delaware River, 158 East Front Street, Hancock, NY 13783

 

[moon1284]

Got the same e-mail. It sucks but hale eddy is around 3800 CFS. That is around 1.7M GPM. With the high water it should flush out quickly and not cause too much damage. The eddys should be easy to clean up with oil boom. Hopefully it wipes out some mergansers...

 

[tomgamber]

None of the cars containing hazmat were derailed and there were no releases or spills of hazmat material. There was one hazmat car containing corrosive liquid and thirteen containing contaminated soil. There were two other commodities on the train, construction debris and non-hazmat soils. All of the fuel from one of the locomotives has leaked from the fuel tank, a second locomotive had a fuel tank leak that was contained. Of the 63 railcars, 38 are empty.

i'm not seeing anything about 4000 gallons of fuel. good news is that that stuff floats.

 

[moon1284]

The 4000 gal of diesel was in the fudr email. I read it quickly so I might be wrong.

 

[DaveS]

A quick google search result is a desiel locomotive carries approx 1000 gal of fuel. News reports 1 engine leaking fuel. One contained. That’s less than 2000 gallons of desiel into a swollen river. Dispersion should be pretty good.

It’s not great news for sure, but it could have been way worse IMHO.

 

[krayfish2]

Yep. July 23rd, Hale Eddy was at 400 cfs. A spill at that flow would have been much, much worse. Hopefully the clean up / train car removal goes well. Time will tell the long term impact.

Also hope for no injured as a report I read stated there was considerable damage to infrastructure from swollen feeders. We find roads washed out for quite some time. Rt 17 was closed !

 

[cms829]

Dilution is the solution to pollution. Instructor at our Hazmat courses taught us that one. Hopefully the rains that led to the incident occurring will be exactly what limits its impacts on the river.

 

[Bamboozle]

The FUDR info has other errors like the railroad involved.

It was a New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway train, not Norfolk Southern.

Not a hill of beans difference to most but inaccurate info regardless which makes any early speculation unreliable.

 

[krayfish2]

Train Derailment on the West Branch of the Upper Delaware River - Update #2

Some additional information on the trail derailment just upstream of the Hale Eddy Bridge on the West Branch of the Upper Delaware River near Deposit, NY :


This was a non-passenger train and reports are that there are no injuries to the train conductors or other railroad personnel. There are also no reports of any injuries to residents or visitors. We will alert you about any planned public health assessments with regard to the fuel oil spill.

First responders arrived quickly and from many different government agencies including the Office of Homeland Security, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the New York State Department of Transportation, and the New York State Office of Emergency Management, National Park Service, and Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Numerous other local, state, and federal agencies are on the scene as well and we thank them for their timely and professional response to the derailment incident.

According to the NYS Office of Emergency Management (NYSDEC), the fuel oil spill to the river will have little to no damaging effects on the river and should dissipate rapidly due to the nature of its composition and the extremely high water flows in the river.


Action item!

The Department of Environmental Conservation is asking everybody who spends time on or near the river to contact them if they see any evidence of impacts to wildife/habitat or fuel oil build-up, especially in the quiet eddies and pools near the riverbanks. Look for a reddish/brownish sheen on the surface of the river that looks similar to brake fluid or transmission fluid.

Please take a picture of any observed impacts with GPS coordinates and send them to info@fudr.org if you see negative impacts of the spill and we'll forward them to the NYSDEC

 

[laszlo]

Didn't read the article, anyone injured? Sorry answered in above paragraph.

 

[moon1284]

What was the train's itinerary?

 

[SurfCowboyXX]

Dilution is NOT the solution to pollution (we know better now), but sometimes it's all we've got. Hopefully, once everything has been removed and dealt with as best as possible, the dam can release a gully-washer of a flow for a couple days to rinse it a bit.

 

[wbranch]

Surf Cowboy wrote;

Hopefully, once everything has been removed and dealt with as best as possible, the dam can release a gully-washer of a flow for a couple days to rinse it a bit.

While that might be a good idea I believe it is extremely doubtful that NY city (who owns the reservoirs) is going to do that unless some powerful government agency mandates them to do so. They have historically hoarded every drop of water that comes out of those reservoirs. If they had their way both the West Branch and East Branch Delaware would be virtually dry. There would be just enough water being released so water would not be breaching the top of the dam.

 

[krayfish2]

Drone footage of the site


Fwd:https://www.facebook.com/537537334/posts/10155693586267335/

 

[cms829]

Lol yea, thats an old saying but like you said sometimes its all weve got. Unfortunately in a situation like this with a high volume of moving water, dilution is pretty much the only realistic resolution to the problem. You cant contain it. By 7 am it was likely 12-15 miles downriver. The Hazmat response time for Deposit NY is not likely very good. Local FD's are equipped to handle fuel/oil spills during MVA's - not major spills. We carried one or two booms in our Rescue truck, a few pads, and a bag or two of speedy dry.

The battle was lost as soon as the leak began. The only cleanup will be in minuscule amounts in large eddy's and such, which aren't very present on the D in water this high. 99% of this leak is probably impossible to recover.

The DEC has already captured several birds coated in fuel oil. I cant imagine the beavers are having a fun time of it.

Given its still running high and 2-4 inches of rain are now forecast again from Sunday to mid week next week, its the best conditions we could ask for.

 

[SurfCowboyXX]

I agree. For the first time in weeks, I'm hoping for some gully washer rains.

 

[Acristickid]

Where is the intake for the NYC water supply?

Would think they would do whatever is required since it the drinking water and the railroad or their insurance is gonna pay.