St-Henri train derailment spills 3,500 litres of diesel fuel

Emergency crews are cleaning up after the overnight derailment of a CN freight train near the intersection of Saint-Jacques and de Courcelle Streets in St-Henri spilled around 3,500 litres of diesel fuel.

No one was hurt in the incident but firefighters and Urgence-Environnement had a busy morning trying torecover the fuel, which spilled from one of the trains two locomotives.

The train was transporting containers full of merchandise and tanks of grain from Halifax to Montreal. Two tankers of grain and both locomotives came off the rails but remained upright.

Andr Mnard, a spokesman for the provincial environmental emergency agencyUrgence-Environnement, told Radio-Canada that around 3,000 litres of fuel were recovered and the other 500 litres were absorbed by the soil without risk to the water supply and sewer system.

The Transportation Safety Board and CN are now investigating the derailment.

Its too early to suggest a cause, said Louis-Antoine Paquin, a spokesman for CN.

Paquin sought to assure nearby residents that there were no dangerous materials on the train, which had two drivers working at the time.

We never take these incidents lightly and were keeping safety officials informed of developments, he said.

CN workers spent Sunday morning trying to get the cars back on the track.