By Kris Maher
The crude-oil train that detailed and exploded in West Virginia
on Monday was traveling well below the track's speed limit,
according to an onboard recording system, a federal official said
Thursday.
Sarah Feinberg, acting head of the Federal Railroad
Administration, said the CSX Corp. train that derailed near Mount
Carbon, W.Va., was going 33 miles an hour in a 50 mph zone.
The cause of the derailment remains under investigation, and Ms.
Feinberg said investigators would look at the condition of the
rails, tanker car wheels and other factors that could have
contributed to the accident. Investigators have so far examined
outward-facing video footage from the train, as well as information
from a data-recording device on the locomotive.
"The data we're able to glean from it is incredibly useful, but
we're very early in the investigation," said Ms. Feinberg. "The
reality is we really need to make some progress at the scene. We've
still got some fires burning."
The train was hauling 107 tank cars of crude oil from North
Dakota to Yorktown, Va., when 26 cars derailed, with 19 eventually
catching fire and several exploding and sending fireballs into the
sky. One nearby home burned to the ground, and one person was
treated for possible respiratory problems before being
released.
Fires at the site, along a creek that flows beside the Kanawha
River about 30 miles from the state capital of Charleston, have
kept investigators from examining the scene thoroughly. One fire
continued to smolder Thursday, said Gary Sease, a spokesman for
CSX.
Yet Mr. Sease said company crews on Thursday were finally able
to begin to move closer to pump off the remaining oil from the
damaged cars. That oil will be removed via trucks to a temporary
storage site before being disposed of, he said.
Each tanker car carried 29,500 gallons of oil. But it isn't yet
clear how much leaked from the ruptured cars. "The closer work
today as part of the oil-transfer process will enable us to make an
estimate of the lost product," Mr. Sease said.
Mr. Sease said the company couldn't say yet when the track would
reopen.
On Wednesday, two restaurants filed a lawsuit in Fayette County
court against CSX and West Virginia American Water, which shut a
water system for 2,000 customers as a precaution after the
derailment.
The plaintiffs, who are seeking class-action status, allege that
they suffered economic damages and inconvenience as a result of the
water interruption, the evacuations and lost business.
"It was a major disruption for thousands of people," said Tim
Bailey, an attorney for the plaintiffs.
Mr. Sease and a spokeswoman for the water company didn't
immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
Write to Kris Maher at kris.maher@wsj.com
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