W.Va. train derailment sends oil-tanker car into river

Associated Press

MOUNT CARBON, W.Va.

A train carrying more than 100 tankers of crude oil derailed in southern West Virginia on Monday, sending at least one into the Kanawha River, igniting at least 14 tankers and sparking a house fire, officials said.

One person was being treated for potential inhalation issues, but no other injuries were reported, according to a news release from CSX, the train company. Nearby residents were told to evacuate as state emergency response and environmental officials headed to the scene about 30 miles southeast of Charleston.

The state was under a winter-storm warning and getting heavy snowfall at times, with as much as 5 inches in some places. It’s not clear if the weather had anything to do with the derailment, which occurred about 1:20 p.m. along a flat stretch of rail.

As federal railway and hazardous-materials officials were heading to the scene, the company said it’s still investigating what caused the train to come off the tracks.

Public Safety spokesman Lawrence Messina said responders at the scene reported one tanker and possibly another went into the river. Messina said local emergency responders were having trouble getting to the house that caught fire.

Kanawha County Manager Jennifer Sayre said a reported 14 to 17 tankers caught fire or exploded.

James Bennett, 911 coordinator for Fayette County, said a couple hundred families were evacuated as a precaution.

The rail company said it’s still sorting out many specifics in its response.

“CSX teams also are working with first-responders to address the fire, to determine how many rail cars derailed, and to deploy environmental protective and monitoring measures on land, air and in the nearby Kanawha River,” CSX spokesman Gary Sease said in a news release.

The fire continued burning along a hillside Monday evening, and small fires could be seen on the river.

The office of Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, which has issued a state of emergency, said the tanker cars were loaded with Bakken crude from North Dakota and headed to Yorktown, Va.

Local emergency officials said all but two of the 109 cars being hauled were tanker cars.

West Virginia American Water spokeswoman Laura Jordan said the company shut down a water-treatment plant about 3 miles from the derailment about 2:30 p.m. The plant serves about 2,000 customers.