26 September 2005
Train Derailment Dumps Potash into Moyie River
Creston - A Canadian Pacific Railway train derailed in a tight canyon, dumping potash into
the Moyie River a few miles north of the Idaho Panhandle, witnesses and authorities said.
A witness, Rod Osiowy of Cranbrook, said two of the 14 cars that jumped the tracks Sunday landed upside down, spilling pink potash into
the pristine river, which flows into the United States and empties into the Kootenay River east of Bonners Ferry, Idaho.
Dan Flegel, a spokesman for the British Columbia Ministry of Environment, said about 100 metric tons of potash was released in the
derailment, which involved a 123-car freight train.
CP Rail workers established a berm around the 100-foot-wide spill and brought in heavy machinery to retrieve the cars east
of Creston and south of Yahk.
It was not immediately clear whether any of the pollution extended south of the international boundary.
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