GLEN FERRIS - Only about 10 residents attended an information session at the Glen Ferris Inn regarding the ongoing remediation efforts surrounding February's CSX oil train derailment in Mount Carbon.
However, the residents who did attend expressed concern about oil trains continuing to pass through the area in addition to worries over existing oil remnants.
CSX officials made no formal presentation during the meeting. Instead, residents and members of the public were invited to ask questions of railroad representatives at tables set up along the perimeter of the inn's meeting room.
One Boomer resident, Kay Slayton, said she had concerns over exposure to benzene and other petroleum-related chemicals following the spill, as well as oil remnants in the area.
Slayton's home is directly across the Kanawha River from the derailment. She and her husband, who were home at the time, witnessed the derailment and subsequent fires occur and evacuated to a nearby elementary school where she works.
"It was a very scary sight," she said. "I saw something coming down the hill and it was on fire."
She said she watched as Morris Bounds ran for his life as his home was engulfed by the flaming rail cars.
Slayton also said he had questions about the claim her family filed with CSX as a result of the derailment, which was denied.
CSX has paid for inconveniences, groceries and amenities incurred by residents affected by the derailment.
Ronnie Williams, a Mount Carbon resident who lives about an eighth of a mile from the CSX tracks, said he couldn't make medical appointments because of the closure of W.Va. 61 and the long detour following the fire. He said passing oil trains get his attention more now than prior to the derailment.
"It kind of worries me now when I see that stuff," he said.
The ill-fated train derailed around 1:30 p.m. Feb. 16 in Mount Carbon. It was traveling from the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota to Yorktown, Va., and had two locomotives, two buffer cars and 107 tank cars.
Each tank car contained around 29,000 gallons of crude oil.
Of the tank cars, 27 derailed causing subsequent explosions and fires in 20 of the derailed cars.
West Virginia American Water also closed its Montgomery water treatment plant, which was downstream from the derailment.
The fires continued to burn until Feb. 21.
In all, around 181,000 gallons of crude oil has been recovered from the damaged cars following the derailment. Two tons of residual crude oil waste were also recovered.
Since the spill, an additional 107,000 gallons of oil-water mixture have been removed from the site, CSX spokeswoman Melanie Cost said.
"It's important for people to also understand that a significant portion of the oil burned up in the fire," she said.
Many of the damaged cars remain in a fenced-off yard in Handley.
Some oil did reach the Kanawha River. Sheens were observed in the river and in Armstrong Creek, and an "emulsion" was deposited beneath the surface of each waterway, according to the consent order.
However, ice on the creek and river is believed to have prevented some of the oil from actually entering the waterways.
After the derailment, CSX had installed a 416-foot barrier wall in the Kanawha River to protect surface water and two underground containment walls to stop any oil flow in groundwater from moving outside the work area. Those walls were in addition to several types of booms to catch oil in the river.
To collect oil deposits on the bottom of the waterways, CSX contractors dug trenches and culverts around the site to collect oil and also installed a few dozen "sumps" in the derailment area to collect additional oil.
Ongoing efforts have been made to continue to remove oil remnants from the site.
Cost said the railroad continues to sample the air, water and soil surrounding the area.
"We've been doing constant monitoring, we're monitoring every day," she said.
CSX remains in the first phase of a two-part cleanup process under a under a March 6 consent order with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The second phase, following EPA approval, will focus on long-term environmental remediation and monitoring, including new soil and groundwater samples, the removal of a sheet pile wall installed along the riverbank and sampling of sediment at the bottom of the Kanawha River and Armstrong Creek, a tributary of the Kanawha.
For now, CSX will continue to submit bi-weekly progress reports to the EPA through August.
The Federal Railroad Administration has not yet released a cause of the derailment. Officials ruled out speeding as a cause after it was determined the train was traveling 33 mph in a 50 mph zone.
Transport of oil by train is becoming an increasing concern as more oil is sent from the Bakken formation in North Dakota and explosive derailments occur in the U.S.
In fact, just two weeks after the Mount Carbon incident, a BNSF train carrying oil derailed and exploded near Galena, Ill. That train had also originated in the Bakken. On May 6, another BNSF oil train derailed and exploded in Heimdal, N.D.
"We understand communities concerned about transport of oil," Cost said.
Cost said CSX supports stricter safety standards for rail cars, which she said is "a great step on the path to make this safer."
Cost also said CSX conducts enhanced inspections on its tracks over which crude oil is transported. Inspections include a visual inspection three times per week, an analysis of track geometry using a specialized railcar several times per year and ultrasound testing of the rail itself every few months.
In addition, Cost said the Montgomery Fire Department had completed a training course offered through the railroad's "Safety Train" program, which she said helped first responders on the day of the derailment.
"They knew exactly what to do," she said.
CSX has established a claims center in Huntington to which residents and businesses can write for damages and removal costs as authorized under the Oil Pollution Control Action of 1990. Those claims could include damage to natural resources, loss of government revenue, loss of profit and increased cost of public services.
The address for CSX claims is CSX Transportation, Attn: Mt. Carbon Risk Management Response Center, 935 7th Ave., Huntington, WV 25701. It can be reached at 304-522-5576.
A law office in Smithers that claims it is the "Mt. Carbon Train Derailment Claims Office" is not the CSX claims office. The Smithers location is an office for Charleston attorney Rod Jackson and attorneys from Paducah, Ky., and Denham Springs, La.
Documents pertaining to the CSX cleanup and EPA consent order are available for public inspection at Montgomery City Hall from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The documents are on a CD-ROM that is accessed through a computer at the city hall. The most recent bi-weekly report available as of last week was for May 19.
Several signs in the Boomer area were posted along U.S. 60 that advised residents of a "train derailment town hall meeting" to be held at 6 p.m. on July 23 at the Boomer Baptist Church.
It was unclear who was organizing that meeting.
Contact writer Matt Murphy at 304-348-4817 or matt.murphy@dailymailwv.com. Follow him on Twitter @DMLocalGov.