Train spills the beans
Rail cars are stacked up along the Clark Fork River after a derailment Wednesday involving 19 cars of an 111-car train. The accident dumped 37 tons of soybeans into the river. Photo courtesy of Clark Fork Valley Press
Derailment dumps 37 tons of soy legumes into river
The Associated Press
PLAINS - Nineteen cars of a 111-car Montana Rail Link train derailed just west of Plains early Wednesday, spilling about 37 tons of soybeans into the Clark Fork River.
Rail Link spokeswoman Lynda Frost said the derailment occurred shortly before 5:30 a.m.
No one was injured and no hazardous materials were involved. The cause of the derailment is under investigation.
The 19 cars carried 2,134 tons of soybeans.
Frost said one-third of the contents of one car was dumped into the river.
"The soybeans spilled into a back eddy, and they're just swirling there," Frost said.
"It was the perfect place. The water is about 8 feet deep and the soybeans piled up and were contained to one area."
Frost said crews will deal with the derailed cars before removing the spillage from the river.
The train was traveling from Mitchell, S.D., to Tacoma, Wash.
One lane of Montana 200 was closed Wednesday afternoon, but cleanup crews planned to close it completely during the evening while the rail cars are being removed with heavy equipment sent down from Billings and Havre.
Frost estimated the cleanup would last 24 hours.
"We're working feverishly to get this cleaned up and get traffic flowing normally again," she told the Clark Fork Valley Press.