PASCO — Washington’s Department of Ecology says BNSF railroad worked quickly to contain a diesel spill on tracks near the Pasco and McNary dam near the Columbia River. A large rock slide down a cliff and landed on the tracks, puncturing a hole in the engine’s fuel tank.
Officials say the diesel leaked into the rail bed but none made it to the river. They placed a containment boom in the river as a precaution.
Central Region Response manager Jeff Lewis says “so far no sheen has been spotted in the river.”
Officials say the train was carrying general freight from Pasco to Seattle. It was carrying up to 3,000 gallons of diesel, but they don’t know how much spilled. They say they’ll know more once it’s unloaded.
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