FAYETTE COUNTY, W.Va. — During a public meeting staged five months after a train derailed and dumped oil near Mount Carbon, CSX told residents Tuesday the accident created no impact on community health.
The 27-car derailment resulted in Bakken crude oil spilling and causing gigantic fires.
“After the derailment we promised we’d be here and be informing people on what it was about,” CSX spokesperson Caitlin Barrett said. “We’ve voluntarily signed a consent order with the EPA, and as part of that we hold these public meetings to keep open-minded dialogue.”
She said no health issues resulted from soil, air or water contamination.
Local resident Dane Manley remained concerned.
“We watched diesel fuel run into the river for a few days. The whole area is an eyesore now,” he said. “We’re just wondering what they plan to do to put it back together like it was.”
Manley’s wife Brenda echoed her husband’s concerns.
“We’re really concerned about the property; they haven’t done much to it. It looks really bad,” Manley said. “They haven’t replanted any trees. They threw grass over there and the ducks ate it. They come in and work on the track but have done nothing to the property.”
Barrett insisted CSX is moving toward the second step of the recovery process.
“Right now we’re working on the plans for phase two. Obviously there’s a lot of people involved in this. The DEP, the EPA—everyone sees those plans and signs off on them,” she said. “We’re in the plan-creation phase at the moment and still working on all the parts of phase one.”
She said that CSX continues to follow regulations from the Department of Transportation as well as taking other safety precautions to reduce the chance of such a derailment happening again.
CSX is currently accepting claims for uncompensated damages and removal costs under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.