In the aftermath of Friday’s train derailment in Mosier, Ore., Union Pacific is temporarily diverting some shipments onto BNSF Railway tracks on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge.
Union Pacific has shipped at least eight trains on BNSF’s track, and some detours are still occurring, BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas said Monday. The line goes through Vancouver.
“We have reciprocal operating rights in emergency situations in our agreements with Union Pacific,” Melonas said. He declined to comment on what materials Union Pacific was shipping on the BNSF line.
Union Pacific spokesman Justin Jacobs said he wasn’t sure what those trains were carrying.
Each day, BNSF ships about two oil trains through the Gorge to Vancouver, Melonas said. That could triple if four oil trains per day are added to supply the proposed Vancouver Energy oil-transfer terminal at the Port of Vancouver.
Jacobs didn’t specify exactly how many oil trains Union Pacific typically moves through the region.
“Crude oil … accounts for 1 percent of our commodity shipments,” Jacobs said. “We’re definitely not doing oil shipments (daily). Might be on a weekly or monthly basis.”
Sixteen cars of a 96-car Union Pacific unit oil train derailed, and four of the cars caught fire, Friday in Mosier. The train was headed to U.S. Oil & Refining Co. in Tacoma.
Political leaders in Oregon have called for a temporary halt to oil train traffic in the Columbia River Gorge. Jacobs said Union Pacific won’t ship crude oil trains through the area in the near future. It also instituted a 10 mph speed restriction through the area.
Jacobs said the train cars that didn’t derail are staged in The Dalles, Ore. They’ll be moved, but it’s not yet determined if they’ll go through the Gorge or take another route.
“That has yet to be decided,” he said.
Jacobs said the company believes a fastener that attached the rail to a tie failed, but the investigation is ongoing. The company plans a report to the Federal Railroad Administration this week.
On June 1, Union Pacific announced plans to invest $34.6 million in its Oregon rail infrastructure, with $3.6 million of that going to replace 28,342 railroad ties on the line between Bridal Veil and Hood River. The company says it invested $193 million in its Oregon infrastructure between 2011 and 2015.
In March, BNSF announced it will invest $220 million in its Washington rail network this year. Those improvements will include replacing 65,000 wooden ties, resurfacing some rail and installing about 70 miles of new rail between Vancouver and Wishram.
Since BNSF began shipping crude by rail about three years ago, the company has stored firefighting foam and other firefighting equipment in several locations near its lines. BNSF sent two trailers full of foam to Mosier to help combat Friday’s fire, Melonas said.
Jacobs said it’s not yet clear how much the derailment cleanup will cost, but the company is putting “all its resources and efforts” into it.
“At the end of the day, this is our incident, and we’re going to make it right,” he said. “The cost at this point doesn’t matter.”
