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SCOFIELD, Carbon County — Utah water quality officials are testing the Price River after a train derailment sent 40 to 50 tons of coal into the river and surrounding wetlands early Saturday morning.
Test results will come back on Friday, but officials are not expecting any impact to drinking water in the area, Department of Environmental Quality District Engineer for Southeast Utah Scott Hacking said.
The derailment took place about 1 a.m. Saturday just under a mile east of the Scofield Reservoir dam, Hacking said.
Eight cars of a Union Pacific train hauling coal derailed, Hacking said. At least one of the rail cars tipped over, and between 40 and 50 tons of coal spilled into the waterway.
Utah Department of Environmental Quality is testing drinking water after a train derailed sending 45 tons of coal into the Price River. Clean up is underway and lab results are expected Friday. #cleanup#waterqualityhttps://t.co/hQ0CNeod2z
— Donna K Spangler (@deqdonna) September 26, 2018
Much of the derailment area had been cleared as of Wednesday, but Union Pacific officials were still working to clean fine coal sediment out of the river, Hacking said. They will probably continue cleaning in the area for several weeks, he added.
Some of the wrecked rail cars also will have to be cut with welding equipment and transported out of the area, Hacking said.
Trace amounts of other chemicals associated with train cars, such as hydraulic fluid and axle grease, may also have gotten into the river, Hacking said.
Drinking water intake areas are located about 20 miles downstream of the spill area. Treated water from the Price River Water Improvement District and from Price City also has been tested, and results are due back Friday.
Coal is a “fairly benign” substance that does not substantially dissolve into water, Hacking said. Water quality officials wanted to test the water to make sure that there are no harmful amounts of other chemicals, and to reassure people that the water is good to drink, he said.
