The progress continues with restoring the environment and repairing the rail transportation system from the Feb. 16 derailment of a CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX) train in West Virginia, a release said.
The Unified Command for the West Virginia Train Derailment Response provided an update at a media briefing on Feb. 22.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has confirmed that a small amount of oil entered the Kanawha River as ice melted and water levels changed the morning of Feb. 22. However, ongoing containment strategy and water monitoring has confirmed no impact on drinking water or public safety.
The EPA is working with its partners in the Unified Command on continuous water monitoring as temperatures rise and river conditions change, said Dennis Matlock, federal on-scene coordinator, EPA.
"At this time we are confident that there has been no impact and the water is safe to drink,” Matlock said. “The Unified Command is prepared to deploy additional containment strategies if necessary to supplement the existing booms, sheet piling, barge operations and product vacuuming operations that are recovering product and limiting further environmental impact.”
Regular monitoring will continue around the clock with oversight from the EPA, West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection and West Virginia American Water.
Environmental experts also continue air monitoring efforts to ensure levels are safe for the public.
Officials from the Federal Railroad Administration and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration have teams of inspectors on site and are conducting a full-scale investigation into the cause of the Feb. 16 derailment.
Response teams continue pumping operations to remove oil from the derailed tank cars, reporting about 152,000 gallons of oil recovered directly from tank cars as of Feb. 22. Teams began safely removing empty rail cars on Feb. 21, an operation which continued the next day.
Both pumping and removal operations will continue around the clock pending safe work conditions and weather conditions, until both are complete. Response teams will remove impacted soil and lay a new rail bed in order to rebuild the CSX railroad tracks.
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