Emergency crews from Oxbow were busy last week, as many members attended the scene of a train derailment east of Oxbow.
Twenty-two Canadian Pacific (CP) train cars derailed Sunday, Jan. 22 at approximately 11:00 p.m. when northbound red pickup truck operated by a 20-year-old from Manor coming off a work shift struck the moving train. The collision occurred at a crossing adjacent to Highway 18 approximately seven kilometers east of Oxbow.
The young man suffered minor non-life threatening injuries, but was transported to a hospital in Regina as a precaution.
Light crude oil leaked from a tanker on scene. Best estimates suggest about two-thirds of one tanker spilled onto the ground. A tanker carries approximately 97,000 litres of oil.
Sgt. Chris Boardman of the Carnduff RCMP detachment attended to the scene, along with two constables from the detachment.
“I’ve been to accidents involving trains, but I have never been to a derailment This is the first one of those I have seen in 23 years of policing,” he said
Sgt. Boardman noted the situation could have been much worse.
Motorists were re-routed north of the scene for about 14 hours following the incident, as Highway 18 was closed. It re-opened around 1:00 p.m. Jan. 23.
Motorists are being asked to follow any signs and to watch out for equipment and workers near the site of the collision. Also, a reminder, there is no stopping in the construction zone.
Three days after the incident occurred, the track had been put back together and crews were unloading oil from the damaged tankers in order to transport it to empty tankers in Oxbow.
“Then they’ll be removing the old damaged tankers from the scene,” said Sgt. Boardman.
He’s unsure of how long this could take, as someone would need to come in and cut up the old tanks before they could be hauled away.
“This could take time,” he said.
The next step would include a complete decontamination of the dirt where the oil leak spill occurred.
lizz@oxbowherald.sk.ca
