MONTESANO, Wash. — Eleven grain cars derailed near Montesano Thursday, just days after two similar spills in Aberdeen.
The first two derailments were caused by the failure of saturated railroad ties.
The Puget Sound & Pacific Railroad is still trying to figure out what went wrong with the third train.
In an emailed statement, the railroad’s president, Joel Haka, said, “This string of low-speed derailments is not acceptable.”
It's not acceptable to many Grays Harbor County residents either, like Montesano resident Tom Fredriksen. He worries that crude oil tanker cars may someday run on the same track, the only track to the Port of Grays Harbor.
The port is now considering three different proposals to build oil terminals.
Fredriksen said, “In Alabama, in Canada, in Lynchburg, Virginia, as recently as last week, these trains explode.” He also said, “We’re scared to death of what we see in the news.”
The parent company of the railroad is Genesee and Wyoming.
A spokesman told us the Puget Sound & Pacific is not transporting any crude today. Mike Williams said, “Before we would, there would be significant upgrades, track improvements."
Williams also said, “A tank car is obviously much more robust than a covered hopper grain car." He added, "We have an entirely different set of operating protocols and safety precautions for hazardous materials such as crude oil."
That's not much comfort to Fredriksen. He said, “Nobody seems to want to tell the people who live around here what are the emergency plans, what are the spill protection plans?”
The grain trains that derailed were all going 10 miles per hour or less when they tipped over.
The Federal Railroad Administration is now investigating the incidents.
The Puget Sound & Pacific Railroad said it won’t run another train on the track until it examines recent track inspections.
KIRO
