Derailment clean-up process a 'marathon'

At their regular meeting on Tuesday, July 16, Foster County commissioners received written updates on the Bordulac Train Derailment and subsequent clean-up effort.

Letters from Fire Chief Ken Wangen and Emergency Manager Andrew Kirking were delivered to commissioners which informed them of progress and setbacks of the ongoing clean-up efforts.

Kirking wrote that barricades have been placed on either side of the accident site to control traffic after a civilian pickup truck drove straight through the site.

"I understand there was a pickup with a gooseneck trailer making a delivery that drove right through the work site, creating a safety concern not only for workers, but for traffic as well," he wrote.

Kirking also said they've been getting in touch with local farmers capable of holding some of the product being removed from three remaining tanker cars, but that the decision was ultimately made to partner with Cenex in Grand Forks and Velva to off-load the recovered product.

"So I had to disappoint more than a few folks," said Kirking. "While we were not able to utilize them, I'm amazed at the amount of support we received from all over the region and state."

Meanwhile, Ken Wangen reported that progress has been going well, but slowly.

He explained that temperature inversions cause the ammonia in the water and ground to "basically cloud up" when disturbed, which can then move towards town.

"Doing minimal work around the site after the inversion has mitigated the effect," he wrote.

Wangen further explained that the biggest obstacle is keeping the access viable for the tank trucks that are carrying products out. He said the daily doses of rain aren't helping, and that "firming up the road and making sure it stays that way is #1 priority."

Clean-up efforts are focused on unloading and trucking off site the cars which aren't leaking anhydrous, and once that is complete focus will shift to the leaking cars and recovering whatever product they can, explained Wangen.

Two of the cars read zero pressure but visually still show a frost line, meaning there's still some product in them, he wrote.

"Right now, all engineering controls of the leaks are working well. Those controls include flaring off the Anhydrous and water curtain suppression. They are using the groundwater present to maintain the water curtain with the back up of 8700 gallons of water in portable tanks."

Until all Anhydrous is mitigated from the tank cars Wangen said this derailment is still considered a "high possibility threat level event." The clean-up process will be a marathon, he added, and it will be weeks before all rail cars are removed off site.

Kirking, meanwhile, also wanted to thank those who've been working constantly to address the train derailment disaster.

"I'm overjoyed at the response to the incident by all parties and am eternally thankful that we have had no major casualties," he wrote. "It speaks highly of the training and experience of Foster County responders, and I'm honored to work with such professionals."

Also at their July 16 regular meeting, county commissioners unanimously carried a motion to approve a bid from Border States Paving to turn the Club Hall Road back to gravel.

Club Hall Road is located in eastern Foster County, and cuts through Eastman and McKinnon Townships for eight miles between Kensal Road (85th Ave Northeast) and Highway 20.

Residents who rely on the road weren't happy to hear it may turn to gravel, and some had expressed their concerns to commissioners. As reported on the Independent's website last week (www.fosterconews.com), the county held a special meeting on Wednesday, July 10, to hear from some of them.

At Tuesday's meeting, commissioners reviewed a letter from Kent Ableidinger that was co-signed by numerous residents, which outlines their views and provides some alternatives. One alternative was to go ahead with grinding up the three miles of road in Eastman Township but keep the five miles of road in McKinnon township paved.

However, commissioners ultimately decided against any alterations to the plan, and accepted the bid of $460,291.71 from Border States Paving. According to the advertisement of bids, completion of the project is expected by November 1 of this year.

Meanwhile, commissioners have continued discussions on the sale of a lot by Juanita Lake.

Commission Chairperson David Utke has said the best option is to sell half the property and have the county retain ownership of the other half containing the road, in order to ensure it stays open to local traffic.

Right now it's a minimum maintenance road, or prairie trail, built out with culverts, with a creek running through the property. It's not an established road, so it's not under township jurisdiction, per Utke.

In order to advertise for bids, the county would need to survey the property and plat out the new lots. On Tuesday commissioners decided to get a quote on what it would cost for the survey, so the price could then be included in the overall sale price of the property.

The Foster County Commission's next regular meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 6 at 1:30 p.m. at the Foster County Courthouse.