Train Derailment in West Virginia Causes Oil Spill

By Justin Worland, TIME

17 February 15

train carrying crude oil in southern West Virginia derailed Monday, setting at least one house on fire and spilling oil into the state’s largest river, according to local news reports.

Authorities ordered residents within a mile and a half of the derailment to evacuate, according to WSAZ. The Charleston Daily Mail reports a CSX train went off the tracks at 1:20 p.m. ET, according to a spokesman for the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety.

Following the crash, West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin declared a state of emergency for Kanawha and Fayette counties.

“State officials are on site and will continue to work with local and federal officials, as well as CSX representatives, throughout the incident,” said Tomblin in a statement released by his office.

No injuries have been reported, and a shelter was set up at a local high school. The spill into the Kanawha River shut down some sources of water typically supplied to residents and led the state’s health department to ask them to conserve resources.

A variety of state and local offices, including the Fayette County Fire Department, Bureau for Public Health, state police and the governor’s office, are responding to the derailment.