Train carrying crude oil derails in Wisconsin, 2nd derailment in 2 days

A Canadian Pacific Railway train carrying crude oil derailed Sun., Nov. 8, in Watertown, Wisconsin, spilling as many as 1,000 gallons of crude oil and prompting evacuations. The incident marked the second day in a row that a freight train derailed in the state.

At least 10 cars and as many as 25, some of them leaking oil, derailed at about 2 p.m. No fires or injuries were reported.

Residents of about 35 homes were asked to evacuate.

The incident came just one day after a BNSF freight train derailed near Alma, a Mississippi River town, spilling thousands of gallons of ethanol. BNSF Railway said crews continued Sunday to transfer ethanol from the derailed cars and get the cars back on the tracks.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the Nov. 7 derailment was the third in nine months to occur on the Upper Mississippi River Wildlife Refuge. The area is in the middle of the waterfowl migration along the Mississippi Flyway.

Railroad crews stopped the leaks from five tanker cars and placed containment booms along the shoreline, according to BNSF. One tanker released an estimated 18,000 gallons of ethanol, and the other four released an estimated 5 to 500 gallons each.

Midwest Environmental Advocates has sued to halt a planned expansion of rail lines carrying crude oil through the Upper Mississippi River Basin.