Union Pacific Railroad investigators blame track failure as the cause of last week’s fiery oil tanker derailment in Oregon.
The railroad company inspects the tracks that run through Mosier, Oregon at least twice a week and the most recent inspection was on May 31 prior to the crash that forced the evacuation of nearly 100 people in the town on Friday.
Company spokeswoman Raquel Espinoza said a more detailed inspection of the section of track had been carried out in April and no problems were discovered.
At least 16 of the 96 tank cars derailed and started a fire in four of the cars.
“We’re doing everything we can to get you back home, but we not going to risk your safety,” said Espinoza at a news conference. She said the company is still focused on removing the crude oil from the damaged tankers.
Repairs would also need to be finished to a water treatment system that runs under the tracks. The fire and derailment damaged essential city services in the small Oregon town.
“I count myself lucky that we dodged a bullet,” said Mayor Arlene Burns. “We hope that this is a wake-up call.”
As of Monday, cleanup crews had cleaned about 10,000 gallons of crude oil out of the town’s sewage system and another 32,000 gallons had burned