LA CROSSE, Wis. — As cleanup from last week’s BNSF derailment near De Soto, Wis., continues, the La Crosse County landfill is processing some 2.5 million pounds of debris from the incident.
The county says in a press release that the railroad asked La Crosse County for support as it had the nearest facility with the capacity and capability for the operation. Under an emergency process, La Crosse County officials opened the landfill at 6 a.m. Saturday and began processing waste from the derailment.
Initial reports from the derailment, which sent some containers into the Mississippi River, were that paint and lithium batteries were among the train’s cargo, raising hazardous-material concerns [see “Injuries reported in BNSF derailment …,” Trains News Wire, April 27, 2023].
Those materials were removed by a hazmat team. But non-hazardous materials, including food and other forms had to be sorted and disposed of; county officials worked with 12 local hauling companies to bring the debris from the derailment site to the landfill.
“Our goal was to minimize the environmental impacts to the region from this debris remaining in the water and to facilitate [State] Highway 35 being reopened,” said Jackie Davis, operations coordinator with La Crosse County Solid Waste. The road remains closed while clean-up continues; Crawford County Emergency Management reports the current target for reopening is Wednesday, May 3.
BNSF will cover the cost of the clean-up operation in La Crosse County, officials said.
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