Two months after a railroad bridge collapse sent carloads of hazardous oil products plunging into Montana’s Yellowstone River, the cleanup workers are gone and a mess remains.
The spill extends more than 125 miles along a stretch of the Yellowstone popular among anglers and recreationists and relied on by farmers to irrigate crops. Yellowstone National Park is upstream of the bridge collapse and was not impacted.
Elevated levels of a toxic component of oil known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, have been detected in mountain whitefish downstream of the spill site, prompting an advisory against eating any caught along a 41-mile stretch of the Yellowstone. The contamination has not been conclusively linked to the derailment but the asphalt that was spilled contained PAHs, according to documents submitted to federal officials.
Asphalt is not as volatile as other oil products such as gasoline or diesel. It emits chemicals toxic to humans and the environment at a slower rate, but also breaks down slowly and can have a more lasting impact, said University of Houston petroleum chemist Ramanan Krishnamoorti. Federal and state officials cautioned in the days after the derailment that much of the spill would not be recovered and a too-aggressive cleanup risked further harm to the environment. Cleanup crews collected asphalt at 377 sites — along with more than 20 tons of rocks, sand and vegetation that stuck to the asphalt as it began to harden, according to data provided by federal officials.
As recently as Aug. 3, officials anticipated the cleanup work continuing “via boat and land” into fall, according to a planning document approved by the government and railroad. Less than two weeks later, with work slowing as the water dropped, officials said they passed a threshold triggering a wind-down of the cleanup. That threshold was three or fewer sites with contamination deemed extensive enough for removal, over any 10-mile stretch of the river.
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