BILLINGS, Mont. State officials say more than 17,400 gallons of petroleum product have been removed from a contaminated rail yard in Livingston, Mont., over the last two years, the Associated Press reports.
The grounds around the Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail yard are contaminated with chlorinated solvent and petroleum from over a century of operations.
The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has scheduled a public meeting on Thursday, October 22 in Livingston to provide information on the cleanup.
The agency says surface soil sampling on the rail yard and an investigation into potential contamination of an underlying aquifer will begin soon.
BNSF has filed a federal lawsuit challenging some aspects of the cleanup, but activity at the site has continued while the suit is pending.
(This item was distributed Oct. 8, 2009, by the Associated Press.)