The cleanup of the oil spill from a Sunday train collision in Money is continuing — but assessing the environmental and property damage may take longer.
The fiery collision of two southbound CN freight trains resulted in the rupturing of a tanker car containing crude oil.
Between 20,000 and 30,000 gallons of oil spilled along the railroad’s right of way and contributed to a fire that destroyed numerous rail cars and several locomotives.
George Jeffords, the farm manager for farmer Tommy Gary, said the spill was contained between the edge of the railroad right of way and Money Road, directly across from the Money Volunteer Fire Department.
“They’ve got the oil already piled up. It was mixed with gin trash and covered to protect it from rain,” said Ernie Shirley, environmental administrator with the state Department of Environmental Quality Tuesday.
“They got everything,” added Jeffords.
Shirley said several contractors were on site Tuesday, including United States Environmental Services of Jackson, which is cleaning and purging the tanker cars; E3 Group LLC of Jackson, which is handling ground-based environmental issues; Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health, LLC of Little Rock, which is conducting air monitoring; and R.J. Corman Railroad Group LLC of Nicholasville, Kentucky, which is handling wrecking operations.
Government officials present included Carter Williams, Environmental Protection Agency lead on-scene coordinator.
In addition, government agencies including DEQ, the Mississippi Department of Transportation’s Rails Division and the Federal Railroad Administration are represented, Shirley said.
He estimated that most of the cleanup would be done within a week to 10 days and that all the work would be completed within three weeks.
Gary is permitting the railroad’s heavy equipment to be parked on his farmland. Jeffords said the railroad is “doing a real good job” in repairing the damage from the spill.
Leflore County Road Manager Jerry Smith said that the equipment used in the recovery operations heavily damaged County Road 83.
He said the road was paved about a year ago. Now the county must seek bids to repair it.
• Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
