Hard Cleanup: Montana Train Derailment Spills Beer and Clay

PARADISE, Mont. (AP) — Crews could face a difficult cleanup task after a 25-car train derailment spilled powdered clay and cases of beer beside a scenic western Montana river, leaving some cars off the tracks in a narrow, century-old tunnel with limited access, officials said.

“It’s a terrible spot to get in and out of,” Bill Naegeli, manager for Sanders County Disaster and Emergency Services, said of the derailment on the Clark Fork River. “The biggest issue is the cars derailed inside the tunnel” with little clearance.

Montana Rail Link has said nobody was hurt and no hazardous materials spilled Sunday morning in the derailment that left some cars precariously close to the banks of the river and some slightly dipping into the water in an area where the railroad tracks run between the base of the mountain and the river.

Seven cars are believed derailed in the narrow tunnel where it will be hard to extricate them, Naegeli said.

The train derailed Sunday across the river from Quinn’s Hot Springs Resort in Paradise, spilling the clay and cases of Coors Light and Blue Moon beer, in cans and bottles, the Missoulian reported.

A tanker car carrying butane was on its side, but it did not leak, Naegeli said.

A boom was deployed across the river to secure any cans or bottles of beer that enter the water and to monitor for any possible diesel impacts after a small amount of fuel spilled on the dirt from two refrigerator cars that derailed, said Andy Garland, spokesperson for Montana Rail Link, in a statement Monday.

“MRL has been in communication with both local and federal authorities and will conduct any necessary site remediation, including impacted soil removal in coordination with DEQ,” Garland said.

Directly across the river, some guest cabins at Quinn’s resort were evacuated as a precaution, the Plains-Paradise Rural Fire District said in a social media post.

Denise Moreth, the resort’s general manager, told the Missoulian that front desk workers heard a “loud, rumbling crash, and then they heard the train derailment. ”

Garland said Sunday it was unclear how long it would take to remove the derailed cars and repair the tracks and railroad bed, which appeared to have been damaged when the cars slid off the tracks. Crews were working in the area on Monday.

The derailed area can only be reached by vehicles traveling on the blocked railroad track or by taking a boat across the river, Garland said Sunday.

The cause of the derailment is still under investigation, officials said.

Federal regulators and members of Congress are urging railroads to do more to prevent derailments after recent fiery wrecks involving hazardous chemicals in Ohio and Minnesota prompted evacuations.

Rail accidents including derailments have been trending downward in the U.S. as the number of miles traveled by trains decreases.

However, the rate of accidents per mile has been increasing, according to the Federal Railroad Administration. Railway unions contend rail transportation has become riskier in recent years following widespread job cuts.

Most rail accidents involve freight trains, and fatalities involving passenger trains are rare.

About the photo: A group of fishermen claim a bottle of beer from a derailed railcar on the banks of the Clark Fork River near Quinn’s Hot Springs, west of St. Regis, Mont., Sunday, April 2, 2023. Montana Rail Link is investigating the derailment in which there were no injuries reported. (Ben Allan Smith/The Missoulian via AP)