WINONA, Minn. - East End residents got a slimy surprise Friday when their homes and cars were sprayed with oil from a locomotive on a nearby rail line, state officials told the Winona Daily News.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is investigating the incident, which occurred on a rail line parallel to Front Street near Mankato Avenue.
At least one witness saw a locomotive spray the oil on Friday afternoon, though neither Union Pacific Railroad nor Canadian Pacific Railway the two companies that use the line have claimed responsibility.
Black, greasy speckles still cover homes and cars along Front Street from High Forest to Chatfield Street, and dark oil stains also dot the ground along the rail line that follows Front Street.
There are a bunch of kids here on this block, so its a big concern, said Cindy Hanson, a mother of three whose home and two vehicles were splattered with the grease.
MPCA spokeswoman Cathy Rofshus said a locomotive apparently discharged a small amount of oil, but the incident should have minimal health or environmental effects.
Were talking about a very small amount, Rofshus said.
Union Pacific is investigatingto determine if its locomotive was linked to the incident, a spokesman for the company said. Canadian Pacific sent investigators to the neighborhood on Monday, but a spokesman said he is pretty confident his company wasnt responsible.
City council members George Borzyskowski and Debbie White noted at Monday nights meeting that they received calls about the incident. Borzyskowski whose 4th Ward includes the affected neighborhood said the rail company responsible for the mess should clean it up.
(This item appeared May 6, 2009, in the Winona Daily News.)
WINONA, Minn. -- A Union Pacific Railroad train is responsible for the oily mess made Friday on Winona's East End, the company said Wednesday (May 6).
Homes and cars on Front Street near Mankato Avenue were speckled with mysterious black goo, and witnesses blamed oil from a locomotive on a nearby rail line. But neither Union Pacific nor Canadian Pacific Railways -- two rail companies that use the line near Front Street -- fessed up to the incident on Tuesday.
A Union Pacific spokesman contacted the Daily News on Wednesday to claim responsibility for the incident, and said cleanup will be under way as soon as today.
Spokesman Mark Davis said Union Pacific mechanical crews didn't initially report the oil leak, which a crew member noticed at about 4:30 p.m. Friday while the leaky locomotive was east of the Bay State Milling Co. facility in Winona. The locomotive later went to Milwaukee, where mechanics determined it had an oil leak.
"It was treated more as a mechanical issue than an environmental issue," Davis said.
Union Pacific officials now estimate 15 Winona homes were splattered with the oil. The company plans to have cleanup crews in the area today and contacted many affected homeowners Wednesday, Davis said. It's not clear how much oil was sprayed from the locomotive, though Davis called it "a small amount."
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency made a similar estimate on Tuesday after its investigation of the incident.
Canadian Pacific owns the main rail line that bisects Winona, but Union Pacific, an Omaha, Neb., company, owns the spur that serves the riverfront.
(The preceding article by Mark Sommerhauser was published May 7, 2009, by The Winona Daily News.)
WINONA, Minn. - Union Pacific Railroad will clean up about 15 houses in Winona after they were flecked with oil from a leaky locomotive May 1, the Rochester, Minn., Post Bulletin reports.
Homes and cars on Front Street near Mankato Avenue were speckled with mysterious black goo, and witnesses blamed oil from a locomotive on a nearby rail line.
Initially, a Union Pacific spokesman denied responsibility but called the Winona Daily News back on Wednesday to accept responsibility. Spokesman Mark Davis says when the locomotive reached Milwaukee, mechanics determined it had an oil leak.
Davis says the company has contacted many affected homeowners and planned to have cleanup crews in the area this week. He says only a "small amount" of oil sprayed from the locomotive.
(This item appeared May 12, 2009, in the Post Bulletin.)
Davis says the company has contacted many affected homeowners and planned to have cleanup crews in the area this week. He says only a "small amount" of oil sprayed from the locomotive.
Davis says the company has contacted many affected homeowners and planned to have cleanup crews in the area this week. He says only a "small amount" of oil sprayed from the locomotive.
