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Update 3: Unified Command Responds to West Virginia Derailment

February 19, 2015

MONTGOMERY, W.Va.— The response teams worked to get residents back in their homes and made significant operational progress, Thursday. Residents in Boomer Bottom are now allowed to return home. The Unified Command continues its response to the West Virginia Train Derailment near Mount Carbon that occurred, Monday.

Highway 61 remains closed due to safety concerns. The Unified Command is working on options to reopen portions of Highway 61 for residents, and people who need access for employment reasons.

“The safety of the residents of Montgomery and our response personnel remain the top priority,” said Dennis Matlock, the Environmental Protection Agency Federal On-Scene Coordinator, who assumed duties from Coast Guard Capt. Lee Boone Thursday. “We also continue efforts to contain, treat and recover product from the derailment scene.”

Environmental protective and monitoring measures remain in place on land, air and in both Armstrong Creek and the Kanawha River. Air and water monitoring are on-going, and results continue to demonstrate no impact to the air quality or the Kanawha River. No rail cars entered the Kanawha River in this incident.

The Federal Railroad Administration has confirmed that during the incident, the train was traveling at 33 mph in a 50 mph zone.  The train was carrying 3.1 million gallons of Bakkan crude oil. Approximately 6,810 gallons of oily-water mixture have been recovered from containment trenches dug along the river embankment near the derailment site.

On-scene teams safely re-railed all but one of the derailed cars that had not been involved in fire. The team also began pumping operations from some of the remaining derailed cars, and that process will continue around the clock. Teams will then prepare to remove those cars from the derailment site.

CSX continues to work with the Red Cross and other relief organizations to address residents’ needs, taking into account winter storm conditions. Additional information is available by calling 1-877-Tell-CSX (1-877-835-5279). The CSX Outreach Center will move from the Glen Ferris Inn to Valley High School in Smithers on Friday (open noon to 8 p.m.), Saturday (open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.) and on Sunday (open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.).

Additional updates will be provided as more information becomes available.

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