Oil Tanker Derails In West Virginia -- Update

By Kris Maher 

State police evacuated residents of Mt. Carbon, W.V., a small town near the capital of Charleston Monday, after a train carrying crude oil derailed, causing a house to catch fire and oil to leak into the Kanawha River.

At least one tanker car, and possibly more, fell into the river, prompting concerns about potential contamination of water treatment facilities that serve two small downstream communities, said Lawrence Messina, a spokesman for the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety.

Lt. Michael Baylous, a spokesman for the state police, said residents within a half mile of the scene were told to evacuate until further notice. A shelter had been set up at a nearby elementary school. He said the train caught fire before destroying a nearby home.

A spokeswoman for CSX Corp., which state officials said operated the train, couldn't immediately be reached to comment.

It wasn't yet clear what caused the derailment.

State health officials said the intakes for water systems that serve Montgomery, W.V., and Cedar Grove, W.Va., would be shut as a precaution. One facility is operated by West Virginia American Water, whose treatment plant was contaminated early last year by a chemical spill on the Elk River near Charleston that disrupted water service for 300,000 residents.

"We're obviously very mindful of that, and the Department of Health and Human Resources is responding because of the potential threat to drinking water," Mr. Messina said.

Laura Jordan, a spokeswoman for West Virginia American Water, said the Montgomery water system serves about 2,000 customers. The company has asked residents to conserve water. Under normal use, the system has enough water to keep pipes pressurized for about 12 hours, she said.

Ms. Jordan said the water company doesn't believe the crude oil spill has affected its water plant, but it is working with state officials to determine when its water intake can be reopened.

Each week, about three to four trains carrying crude oil travel through Fayette County where the accident occurred, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis late last year of records submitted by railroads to state officials.

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