News Release 593

DEPARTMENT RESPONDER TO ASSIST
IN DIESEL FUEL CLEANUP FOLLOWING ATCHISON COUNTY TRAIN-TRUCK ACCIDENT

Volume 35-593

Contact: Larry Archer

(For immediate release)

573-751-3807

JEFFERSON CITY, MO, DEC. 20, 2007 – Missouri Department of Natural Resources emergency staff responded to Atchison County Thursday after a tractor-trailer struck a train, resulting in the release of an estimated 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel.

The department’s Environmental Emergency Response section was contacted late Thursday morning by the Missouri Information Analysis Center reporting a train and tractor-trailer accident on Highway 136 near Phelps City. A 3,000-gallon fuel tank on one of the locomotives lost an estimated 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel as a result of the accident. The driver of the truck was injured and is receiving medical care.

The accident occurred when the truck, owned by Schultz Transportation, struck a Burlington Northern Sante Fe Railroad train about 11:30 a.m.

The department dispatched a state on-scene coordinator from the department’s Kansas City Regional Office. First responders on the scene, including the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Missouri Department of Transportation, and local fire and law enforcement, have taken initial steps to contain the spill. Fog and site conditions at the scene is hampering responders’ ability to determine the extent of the spill.

A tanker truck is in route to remove the remaining fuel from the damaged locomotive. Both the trucking company and the railroad have hired environmental contractors to aid in the cleanup.

This is the second train-truck accident that department responders have worked in less than a month. A Burlington Northern Santa Fe train collided with a tractor-trailer on Nov. 28 in Lincoln County, causing the train to derail and the truck to lose diesel fuel from its fuel tanks.

From July 1, 2006, through June 30, 2007, vehicle accidents accounted for 15 percent of the environmental emergency incidents reported to the department, and petroleum products accounted for 43 percent of materials released during environmental emergencies.

The department’s Environmental Emergency Response section is called to the scene of more than 300 emergencies each year, including fires, traffic accidents, leaking storage tanks and other incidents that could have a negative environmental impact. The department’s 24-hour spill line receives more than 1,600 incident reports annually.

To report an environmental emergency, including fuel spills, please contact spill line at
573-634-2436. For more information contact the Missouri Department of Natural Resources at
800-361-4827 or 573-751-3443, or visit the department's Web page at www.dnr.mo.gov.

For news releases on the Web, visit www.dnr.mo.gov/newsrel. For a complete listing of the department's upcoming meetings, hearings and events, visit the department's online calendar at www.dnr.mo.gov/calendar/search.do.

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