MOUNT CARBON, W.Va. — The next phase of the cleanup at the site of last week’s train derailment in Fayette County is underway. Crews have become the process of removing contaminated soil from the area. The work will include the rebuilding of the CSX rail bed in the area.
Recovery teams supervised by federal and state environmental and railroad officials removed the last of the excess oil left in the wrecked tanker cars on Monday. Officials say 172,000 gallons of raw crude was removed from the tank cars and hauled away. Environmental cleanup teams also removed 68,000 gallons of oil/water mixture from collection trenches on site.
Environmental monitoring continues on the site and officials maintain none of the oil has been detected in the Kanawha River where local residents draw their drinking water.
Twenty-seven cars of the train jumped the track in the incident. All but 12 of those cars remain on site. Officials say they’ll be removed when the railroad repairs are finally made.