13 December 2008
CP Crew Cleans Up After Derailment
A train derailed near Grand Coulee Thursday dumping its cargo
of potash.
Grand Coulee Saskatchewan - A Canadian Pacific Railway
crew continued to pick up the pieces Friday of the CP train that derailed a night earlier near Grand Coulee.
The crews were working to clean up 30 potash railcars that derailed around 8:30 p.m. Thursday. Mike LoVecchio, senior manager of media
relations for Canadian Pacific Railway, said the cleaning process should be complete in a few days.
"We're going to take the time necessary to do it properly," LoVecchio said. "Not only do we want a clean site for the
community, but we want to ensure that the track is safe to use again. In the meantime... we have quite an extensive network of track
in Saskatchewan, so we are able to reroute trains over our other tracks. Grain producers will be wanting to know that shipments are
still moving."
The cause of the derailment is still under investigation. LoVecchio said the derailment didn't pose any danger to the town or the
environment. There was a small leak in one of the locomotive fuel tanks, but it was pumped out overnight and was being cleaned up
Friday.
"Potash is not a regulated commodity, so there was no need to evacuate the town," he said. "Had this been a regulated
commodity, (there are) plans in place to work with the local community, and those plans would have been activated had it been
necessary."
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