Two BNSF freight trains derailed within hours. Over 5000 gallons of diesel spilled in Anacortes, Washington around midnight after two locomotives, each capable of holding 3,500 gallons of fuel, overturned. On Wednesday, a train carrying corn syrup derailed near Topock in western Arizona close to the California border.
“BNSF Railway can confirm that a train carrying corn syrup derailed” around 7:40 pm, company spokesperson Lena Kent told CNN. Around eight train cars derailed and the cause of the incident is under investigation.
“There were no injuries as a result of the derailment and preliminarily reports indicate there are no hazardous materials involved,” the company statement added.
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Primary media reports mentioned that a freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed in western Arizona on Wednesday with no immediate reports of spills.
This latest derailment comes a week after another train ran off the tracks in rural West Virginia, injuring three crew members and spilling diesel fuel into a nearby river. Over a month after the derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, released potentially harmful chemicals into the air, soil and water and required extensive cleanup efforts.
The National Transportation Safety Board has been notified of the incident and is responding to investigate, Anita Mortensen, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, said.
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BNSF Railway operates railroad networks in North America and three Canadian provinces and is owned by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. The 1995 company is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, United States.
The derailment of a freight train operated by Norfolk Southern in February this year released over a million gallons of hazardous materials and pollutants into the environment around the town of East Palestine in Ohio. This prompted a lawsuit from the state and probes from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).