Thursday November 7, 2024
Tri-City Herald —
Four refrigerated train cars derailed early Wednesday morning near Wallula, spilling an estimated 660 gallons of diesel fuel onto the riverbank and into the Columbia River.
The Union Pacific train cars carrying frozen vegetables tipped over onto the bank of the river at 3:20 a.m. about 15 miles south of Pasco. The diesel was used to power the refrigeration.
A cleanup contractor for the train company set out booms around a sheen of diesel stretching along the river near the eastern shoreline.
The Washington state Department of Ecology was notified at 4 a.m. but initial reports were that there had not been a spill. Ecology sent out responders after being notified that there was diesel in the river about 6:30 a.m.