State water experts see no immediate risk to drinking water from a train derailment that sent a Union Pacific locomotive into the Gunnison River earlier this week.
In total, two locomotives and five train cars carrying coal went off the tracks Tuesday night after hitting a rockslide near Whitewater, a community south of Grand Junction. Two train engineers had to be pulled from the overturned locomotive by Mesa County Search and Rescue and Grand Junction Fire Department personnel. Neither was injured.
There was fuel leakage from the crashed locomotive, but a spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said there are no threats to drinking water.
“At this time, there is no indication of immediate risk to drinking water or public health. CDPHE water quality experts are in contact with railroad officials and cleanup teams responding to the incident, and we have confirmed there are no downstream drinking water intakes that could be impacted,” a spokesperson for CDPHE said in an email. “Department staff also alerted State of Utah health and environment officials. The Colorado Natural Resource Trustee staff from CDPHE, the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, and the Attorney General’s Office are working with EPA and other federal agencies to coordinate and assess whether there are any injuries to natural resources.”
The derailment is a few miles upriver of the confluence between the Gunnison and Colorado Rivers. Union Pacific Director of Communications Mike Jaixen said Friday morning that cleanup efforts are ongoing.
“Remediation of spilled coal and fuel is currently underway at the derailment site near Whitewater, Colorado, along with removing the damaged locomotives and railcars from the site,” Jaixen wrote in an email to CPR News. “Union Pacific’s Hazmat and Mechanical teams are working in conjunction with state and local officials as we clear this incident.”
