SWINOMISH RESERVATION -The "active cleanup of the diesel spill caused by the early Thursday morning derailment of two BNSF locomotives" was ending early Saturday afternoon, Bill Dunbar, U.S. EPA public affairs staff reported. He gave estimates that approximately 2,100 cubic yards of contaminated soil and 4,300 gallons of groundwater were removed from the site, with fewer than 50 gallons of diesel fuel in the groundwater. No diesel reached the shoreline, and no impacts to fish or wildlife have been observed.

The diesel leaked from one of the two engines when they went off the tracks to a berm on the land-side shortly after midnight March 16, the unified command for the incident reported. The seven car train heading east from an Anacortes oil refinery derailed along the Padilla Bay waterfront within sight of the bridge and the Swinomish Channel, behind the Swinomish Casino.

Responders arrived on the scene within an hour and found diesel on the ground and ongoing discharge from one locomotive. As a precautionary measure, cleanup contractors deployed a boom to contain any spilled diesel from reaching the water and placed additional a boom immediately off-shore. No petroleum sheen was observed in the water.

Staff from the Anacortes oil refineries got the booms in place within an hour and scraped up the fuel, a staff person from a Washington state agency said, speaking on background. "Everything happened the way it was supposed to. Very little spilled into the water."

Before dawn Thursday, staffs from state and federal agencies, BNSF and its contractors were on site. Shortly after 8:30 a.m., three U.S. Coast Guard staff launched a drone from the casino's parking lot and flew it over the bay. No sheen, or film of fuel, was seen in its video either in the bay or channel.

Multiple drone flights and helicopter overflights by the Coast Guard confirmed no impact to water or wildlife. The first helicopter arrived at 9:50 a.m.

By mid-morning, excavators and tanker trucks were removing the remaining fuel and contaminated soil.

Initial estimates were that up to 5,000 gallons of diesel spilled from the locomotive. The unified command's estimate Thursday at 4 p.m., was that a maximum potential of up to 3,100 gallons was spilled. Approximately 600 gallons were recovered from the ground.

Friday, it was reported that there was no impacts to wildlife, that no spilled diesel has reached the shoreline and booms remained as a precaution. Crews had worked through the night.

Crews will install a series of groundwater monitoring wells to detect if any residual petroleum product migrates into groundwater at the site as well as a series of "sparging" units to speed the breakdown and removal of any remaining petroleum products from soil.

With the conclusion of active cleanup, BNSF will work with the Swinomish Tribe to return the large, disturbed area to its pre-spill condition. As the responsible party, BNSF will pay all costs associated with the response.

BNSF is temporarily storing the contaminated soil until it can all be sent for disposal in a permitted landfill.

Swinomish Indian Tribal Community Chairman Steve Edwards made this statement: "I am very grateful to all the first responders who worked tirelessly last night and through the day today. Fire District 13, the Swinomish Police Department, Swinomish Emergency Management, teams from the Marathon and HollyFrontier refineries, and our state and federal partners all pulled together to ensure the safety of the public and to minimize harm to the environment. We have a long way to go, but we know that things could have been much, much worse. We at Swinomish will continue to do everything we can to protect the waters and natural resources around us, while ensuring public safety."

There were no injuries.

The cause of the incident is unknown at this time. There will be a full investigation once the cleanup is complete. Skagit County Sheriff's Office and FBI officials both said their agencies were not involved in the investigation.

The unified command formed March 16 consisted of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington Department of Ecology, BNSF Railway, Skagit County Department of Emergency Management and Swinomish Indian Tribal Community.

Today, March 22, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, held a hearing on rail safety. The committee heard testimony regarding Norfolk Southern's safety record and how the February 3, 2023, derailment and the controlled burn of vinyl chloride impacted the East Palestine, Ohio, community. Witnesses were to discuss improving the safety of the nation's rail network, hazardous materials transportation safety and emergency response, including the provisions of S. 576, the Railway Safety Act of 2023.