Atlanta-based Norfolk Southern has been fined $77,640 for a derailment in Middle Georgia 4 years ago that led to the spill of diesel fuel, animal fat and and malt into a creek and its shores.
Mossy Creek flows into Big Indian Creek and then the Ocmulgee and Altamaha rivers, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
In the wreck on Oct. 9, 2019, the Norfolk Southern train derailed along a trestle bridge near Kathleen, Georgia, according to an EPA case summary. It derailed in an “accordion-style” pileup at the Mossy Creek bridge, according to a Federal Railroad Administration report.
None of the cars that derailed contained hazardous materials and no injuries were reported, according to the FRA report.
The railroad — with oversight by EPA and the Georgia Environmental Protection Division — responded to contain, remediate and restore the spill site and shorelines, according to the EPA, which said the total cost of compliance actions was $872,809.
But the spill of 50 gallons of diesel fuel and 12,000 gallons of tallow oil still caused a “sheen, sludge, emulsion” or affected water quality in Mossy Creek and its shorelines, according to an enforcement order from the EPA. Norfolk Southern also did not have a permit to discharge the 10 tons of malt into navigable waters, according to the agency.
As such, Norfolk Southern violated the federal Clean Water Act and related regulations, according to EPA, which issued its order earlier this year and entered the enforcement action data last week.
The derailment also ruptured a natural gas pipeline and released nearly 2.3 million cubic feet of natural gas into the atmosphere, according to the FRA report. There was no evacuation ordered but investigators and rail workers “kept clear of the area until the gas line was secured.”
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