The location of the train hauling crude oil that derailed south of Galena could be “particularly difficult” to clean up, according to an area conservation group. The situation has also brought many questions and concerns to the surface.
Of 105 cars traveling along the Mississippi River near Ferry Landing Thursday, March 5, 2015, there were 21 that derailed. Multiple cars were on fire through the next afternoon as police worked to evacuate the surrounding area and crews kept the waterways protected.
The BNSF train derailment happened within close proximity to waterways and preserves, according to a statement by the Jo Daviess Conservation Foundation (JDCF). It happened within several hundred yards of the JDCF’s 316-acre Portage Preserve located along the confluence of the Galena and Mississippi Rivers. The derailment was also just north of JDCF’s Casper Bluff Land and Water Reserve.
A statement from JDCF described how tough clean-up will be in this location. They said the Driftless Area, high bluffs, karst limestone, and steep ravines makes clean-up “particularly difficult.”
“The spilled contents of the rail cars as well as materials produced in the “clean-up” efforts create liquid run-off that easily makes its way into the adjacent rivers and threatens aquifers that we depend on for drinking water,” said the JDCF statement.
With not only the crude oil train derailing, but also the recent Canadian Pacific train hauling ethanol that went off the tracks in Dubuque, JDCF said “it is time to reassess the risks of so much oil transport through this internationally important river corridor.”
The nonprofit foundation noted some questions that will be discussed with local, state and federal officials in the coming weeks. Those questions include: “What pressures are we placing on our treasured Mississippi River..?” and “What steps are we taking to protect the lives of our citizens and the environmental uniqueness of the Driftless Area?
