Train Carrying Hazardous Materials Falls Off Tracks, Sends Dozens of Cars Toppling: Officials

A Canadian Pacific train derailed in rural North Dakota on March 26, 2023. Joshua Henderson via AP

A 70-car train carrying hazardous materials derailed in North Dakota, officials said Monday.

The train derailed at around 1 a.m. on Monday about 2 miles from Wyndmere in Richland County, sheriff’s officials told local media outlets. No deaths or injuries were reported, officials said.

Of the 70 cars, some 31 derailed off the tracks, officials said. Some of the cars were reportedly leaking petroleum products used to make asphalt, officials told Valley News Live, while adding that there is no danger to the public.

Richland County Sheriff’s officials told Valley News Live that several streets in Wyndmere will be shut down for cleanup and is expected to last between seven and 10 days. Reports indicate that the train was operated by Canadian Pacific.

Wyndmere is located in the southeast portion of North Dakota, around 50 miles from both the Minnesota and South Dakota borders. Both Wyndmere and Richland counties are sparsely populated, with Richland having a population of about 16,000 and Wyndmere having 400.

The incident marks the latest derailment in recent weeks after the highly publicized railroad disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, in February. In that incident, dozens of cars derailed before officials were forced to release hazardous chemicals and evacuations of East Palestine residents.

On Sunday, meanwhile, officials said that several Canadian Pacific train cars derailed in a Chicago-area suburb. Neither car was carrying hazardous materials, authorities told a local Fox News affiliate.

Days before that, five freight CSX train cars derailed in Massachusetts. No hazardous materials or injuries were reported, officials told Fox News.

“There were no reported injuries to the crew, no hazardous materials involved, no leaks or spills of any freight and no impacts to the environment,” a spokesperson from CSX told the broadcaster. “CSX personnel are responding as the incident occurred on a line jointly owned with Norfolk Southern. We are working closely with local first responders to assess the situation and develop a recovery plan.”

Over the weekend, officials confirmed that toxic water from East Palestine may be sent to Baltimore County, Maryland, drawing pushback from local officials. On March 24, Baltimore County executive John Olszewski and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott announced that hundreds of thousands of gallons of contaminated water would be processed at the Back River Wastewater Treatment plant in Dundalk.

“Both the county executive and I have grave concerns about the waste from this derailment coming into our facilities and being discharged into our system,” Scott said at a news conference. “As such, we will exercise additional caution and due diligence and ask for additional testing before authorizing the discharge of any treated water from this event to the public wastewater collection system and the Back River treatment plant.”

The Epoch Times has contacted Canadian Pacific for comment.