Final cleanup is underway at the site where 20 rail cars loaded with ethanol went off the track last Friday south of Graettinger Iowa. Some of the cars exploded into flames, while five fell into nearby Jack Creek. Department of Natural Resources spokesperson, Amber Wolfe, says each of the rail cars can carry 28-thousand gallons of ethanol, but they aren’t sure how much was lost.
Wolfe says two of the rail cars were pulled from the creek right away and the remaining three were pulled out Monday. Wolfe says an estimated 36-hundred gallons of ethanol flowed out of the three rail cars that had to be pulled from the creek — but they haven’t seen any impact.
Work continues at the site to clean up any dirt that soaked up the spilled ethanol.
Wolfe says they don’t know why the cars went off the track, but the National Transportation Safety Board has wrapped up its investigation this weekend. She says the cause of the accident won’t be known until they release that report. The engineer and conductor aboard the train escaped unharmed. Residents in four homes nearby were evacuated for a time as a precaution while the tankers were burning.
