Derailment Site - Wellsville, Kansas

Project Description
A major rail carrier client contracted EWI to respond to the derailment of two locomotives and six rail cars near Wellsville, Kansas.  The affected area included the railroad right-of-way, an agricultural field to the north (maintained by a 4-person trust) and industrial property to the south (owned and operated by two attorneys).

The derailed locomotives released approximately 8,000 gallons of diesel fuel and approximately 300 gallons of lubricating oil onto the ground alongside the tracks, with an estimated 1,000 gallons reaching the nearby Rock Creek.  A number of automobiles being transported in the rail cars were destroyed during the derailment, resulting in the release of an unknown quantity of gasoline and motor oil to the ground in the area of the derailment.

Emergency response procedures included installation of underflow dams and placing booms along Rock Creek, installation of product recovery trenches, and removal of approximately 1,710 tons of impacted soil in the derailment area.  Approximately 6,025 gallons of product were recovered over the course of the cleanup.

Product recovery and site cleanup continued over the next several months, and included installation and sampling of groundwater monitoring wells, additional excavation of impacted soils, monitoring of Rock Creek, and removal of scrap metal from the site.

Site restoration activities were significant due to the scale of the derailment, and due to the extensive damage to private property via other derailment contractors.

EWI completed the following tasks as part of the restoration:

  • Final removal of destroyed cars and misc. debris from the derailment
  • Provided up-to-date information for Public Relations
  • Re-contouring of the agricultural field
  • Re-sloping of the railroad track bed
  • Reconstruction of an entrance to the field
  • Installation of a storm water culvert and restoration of site drainage
  • Removal of a rock access road installed during the initial response
  • Reseeding and mulching former vegetated areas of the site

A portion of the site restoration required a storm water construction permit issued by Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

Project Accomplishments

  • EWI was responsible for overseeing all aspects of the environmental response, including work being conducted by other contractors.
  • Extensive site restoration met the requirements of the major rail carrier’s engineering group and exceeded the expectations of the adjacent landowners.
  • EWI was able to excavate an unwanted levee composed of good topsoil from the northern landowner for use as fill for the southern landowner, saving the rail carrier at least $50,000 in materials.