The cleanup continues after a Tuesday afternoon train derailment in Mattawamkeag.
The derailment happened near the town line with Winn after a train car rolled off a side track onto the main track, where another train collided with it.
The impact caused one car to overturn, while a second derailed. Both train cars were carrying paper products, according to the Lincoln Fire Department, which responded to the derailment.
The crash caused the train’s fuel engine to rupture. David Madore, deputy commissioner of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, said in a Wednesday afternoon email that about 1,200 gallons of locomotive fuel was spilled. Crews transferred about 2.450 gallons from the leaking tank.
Madore said that drone and aircraft flights over the nearby Penobscot River found no “observable fuel sheen” on the water, with most of the spill appearing to be contained to the railroad track ballast.
CSX has agreed to install recovery wells in the railroad bed as part of the cleanup. Those wells will be installed on Friday, with additional monitoring over the weekend, according to Madore.
No additional information was immediately available.
