CSX, EPA reach agreement over derailment cleanup plan

CSX Transportation Inc. and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reached an agreement last week to clean up and restore areas affected by last month's train derailment and crude oil spill in Mount Carbon, W. Va.

The settlement signed by CSX replaces an earlier EPA order for cleanup and restoration, according to an EPA press release. The Class I has agreed to submit within 21 days a comprehensive, long-term plan for cleaning up and restoring the areas affected by the derailment.

On Feb. 16, 27 cars derailed from a 109-car CSX train that was carrying more than 3 million gallons of crude oil from the Bakken Shale in North Dakota. The derailment resulted in an explosion and fires that required nearby residents to evacuate.

CSX committed "significant resources" to respond to the derailment. Under the agreement, CSX will continue with short-term cleanup efforts now underway, including air and water monitoring and testing; recovering oil from Armstrong Creek, the Kanawha River and their tributaries and shorelines; and educating residents about potential effects from the incident, EPA officials said.

"The agreement between CSX and EPA provides a framework within which CSX can work, with oversight from EPA and West Virginia, to ensure that oil contamination from the derailment in Mount Carbon continues to be safely contained and that long lasting impacts are mitigated to protect human health and the environment," said EPA Regional Administrator Shawn Garvin.