MARCH 25, 2015
GALENA, ILLINOIS
An Illinois Senator says BNSF Railroad told him the
preliminary cause of a train derailment and fire near Galena earlier this
month.
Sen. Dick Durbin spokesman Ben Marter says railroad
executive chairman Matt Rose told Durbin that the cause of the train derailment
March 5 is a wheel malfunction. Marter says the Senator didn’t elaborate more
on what that means, but he did say the definitive cause won’t be known until the
Federal Railroad Association releases the results of its investigation.
Many train derailment or other accidents have been caused by
wheel malfunction. Basically, the wheel
of a box or tank car breaks, causing the derailment. Sometimes the wheel brakes and there is no
derailment. But with the tank cars
carrying sloshing fluid, derailment is very often the case than not.
At other times, the top rail breaks and that causes the derailment. And so on.
BNSF spokesman Mike Trevino refused to reveal the details of
the CEO’s conversation with the Senator. Kevin Thompson with the Federal
Railroad Administration said he could not confirm any specific cause and said
his agency was still investigating.
The derailment caused several cars, which were carrying
crude oil from North Dakota, to catch fire.
Last week, railroad officials led a tour of the site to show
its efforts to minimize the environmental impact.
“Stricter standards are needed to prevent these fiery train
derailments from occurring. BNSF and other railway companies will be critical
partners in our ongoing efforts to ensure that our communities are safe during
the transport of potentially dangerous and combustible products,” Durbin said in
a statement on his website about his meeting with Rose.