Copyright Norfolk Virginian-Pilot
There is still no definitive timeline for when the rail line that was damaged by a derailment last month will be repaired, but response crews continue to clean up the spilled fuel and coal. Two locomotives and 53 rail cars came off the tracks near Providence Forge about 3 p.m. on Oct. 25, spilling an estimated 7,000 gallons of diesel fuel and about 4,000 tons of coal and effectively shutting down all train travel between Newport News and Richmond. The cause of the derailment remains under investigation. CSX sent a notice to its customers on Oct. 27 stating that no trains could travel on the affected rail for the foreseeable future. “We are committed to recovering the remaining equipment and product, repairing our infrastructure, and completely restoring the area,” a CSX spokesperson said this week in an email. “We have not confirmed a timeline for restoration of the rail line but will do so as safely and quickly as possible while keeping our customers and key stakeholders informed.” The effort includes containing the site with fencing, booms and curtains to stop any fuel from spreading further, recovering about 4,000 gallons of the diesel and cleaning up the coal, the spokesperson said. The derailment is near the Chickahominy River, according to the James River Association, raising concerns for the environmental impact. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency are assisting in the containment of the scene. The spokesperson said no new waterways have been affected since the initial spill. The area of the derailment is in the top 3.5% of Virginia land for ecological core value, according to the Department of Conservation and Recreation. The James River Association said the portion of the Chickahominy River downstream from the site include conserved lands that serve as a refuge for mussels and underwater grasses, as well as nursery habitats for native species that include threatened migratory fish. The Chickahominy River is also the source of drinking water for many communities on the lower Peninsula, including Newport News, according to JRA. “We are deeply concerned about the impacts to the Chickahominy River, surrounding wetlands, and the people who work and live around the derailment site,” said Tom Dunlap, a James Riverkeeper with the JRA, in a statement released last week. “Many of the neighboring property owners have spent years or decades working on conservation practices to protect this area for the important resource that it is, and seeing this happen is a punch in the gut.” Gavin Stone, 757-712-4806, gavin.stone@virginiamedia.com
