Coal spilled in Springs derailment headed to landfill

More than 1,600 tons of coal spilled from a southbound train that derailed Wednesday night as it passed through Colorado Springs and will have to be disposed of in a landfill, a spokesman for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway said today.

Cleanup and repairs were under way while railway officials began trying to find out why 16 cars near the rear of the 122-car coal train with a two-man crew heading to a power plant in Texas suddenly left the tracks and fell onto their sides, spilling their 100-ton loads.

The cause of the 5:22 p.m. derailment in an industrial area south of the city off East Las Vegas Street had not been determined, BNSF spokesman Steve Forsberg said.

No one was injured in the derailment and firefighters said the coal spill did not pose a chemical hazard.

The tracks are expected to be repaired and reopened by late this afternoon, but none of the coal which is being scooped up by heavy equipment can be salvaged.

“Anything that is spilled has to be disposed of in a landfill that is designated to take it,” Forsberg said. “Once it’s contaminated with dirt, it can’t be burned in an incinerator."

The coal wasn’t destined for Colorado Springs power plants and will not disrupt deliveries to the city’s coal-burning power plants, said Colorado Springs Utilities spokesman Steve Berry.

Derailments are rare — Forsberg could not recall when the last train derailed in Colorado Springs — and BNSF crews visually inspect tracks weekly to try to prevent them.

In addition to the visual inspections, unmanned cars with electronic gauging equipment travel the tracks monthly to detect irregularities. Nothing raised a red flag in the most recent inspections, Forsberg said.

The cost of the lost coal, damaged cars and repairing the tracks will not be released.

“Whatever it is is on us,” Forsberg said. “There is a great deal of financial incentive for us to make sure derailments do not happen.

“Derailments are down 70 percent since 1980. Nevertheless, even one derailment is one too many. That’s why we always do an investigation.”