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Cleanup crews in Montana roll up globs of asphalt binder following train derailment in Yellowstone River

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Cleanup crews in Montana roll up globs of asphalt binder following train derailment in Yellowstone River


  • Cleanup efforts have begun after a train derailment in Montana polluted the Yellowstone River with hot asphalt and molten sulfur.
  • The Yellowstone train derailment was caused by a bridge collapse on June 24. 
  • The refined petroleum products, which easily adhered to the rocks and sandbars, caused a bird to die after it got stuck in the sticky substance.

Globs of asphalt binder that spilled into Montana’s Yellowstone River during a bridge collapse and train derailment could be seen on islands and riverbanks downstream from Yellowstone National Park a week after the spill occurred, witnesses report.

Officials with the Environmental Protection Agency said cleanup efforts began on Sunday, with workers cooling the gooey material with river water, rolling it up and putting the globs into garbage bags. It will probably be recycled, said Paul Peronard with the EPA.

Alexis Bonogofsky, whose family’s ranch was impacted by an oil spill on the Yellowstone River near Billings in 2011, took pictures Saturday of the refined petroleum product covering rocks and sandbars. She also snapped an image of a bird that had died in the black substance.

CREWS IN MONTANA BEGIN WORK TO CLEAN UP TRAIN DERAILMENT SITE IN YELLOWSTONE RIVER

“This killdeer walked across the asphalt, which had heated up in the sun, and it got stuck and died with its head buried in the asphalt,” Bonogofsky wrote in the caption of an image she posted on social media. “You could tell where it had tried to pull itself out.”

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A bridge over the river collapsed as a train crossed it early on June 24 near the town of Columbus and 10 cars fell into the water, spilling liquid asphalt and molten sulfur, officials said. Both materials were expected to cool and harden when exposed to the cold water, and officials said there was no threat to the public or downstream water supplies, officials said.

However, the asphalt binder behaved differently.

A research student examines a mat of petroleum products more than 10 feet long and several inches thick along the Yellowstone River on June 30, 2023, near Columbus, Montana, after a train derailed off a collapsed bridge on June 24. (Kayhan Ostovar/Yellowstone River Research Center at Rocky Mountain College via AP)

“This stuff is not sinking in this water,” Peronard said Sunday. “It adheres really well to rock, and we can roll it up like taffy on the sand.”

Bonogofsky, in another of her photos, captured a sheen on the water. She said the spilled material heated up with warmer temperatures and “you can smell it.”

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The Montana Department of Environmental Quality, the EPA and Montana Rail Link — the entities managing the cleanup — said more asphalt product was released Friday as a rail car was being removed from the river.

“Initial assessments indicate the release was minimal based on the amount of material believed to still be remaining in the impacted car,” the statement said.

Professor Kayhan Ostovar with the Yellowstone River Research Center at Rocky Mountain College also took pictures Friday of the petroleum product that had washed onto the riverbank about 6 miles downstream from the spill.

Ostevar’s team has been conducting turtle surveys below the derailment and is sharing the GPS locations of sensitive sites that are near areas where the asphalt binder has come to rest.

YELLOWSTONE RIVER POSES NO THREAT TO THE PUBLIC AFTER TRAIN CARRYING CHEMICALS FALLS INTO MT WATERWAY

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Turtles are particularly vulnerable to this type of spill, Ostovar said, because they are leaving the water right now to seek out nesting sites on gravel bars and basking in the sun.

The center was created after the 2011 ExxonMobil pipeline breach to gather better baseline information on species of concern that live in and around the Yellowstone River.

Statements from the agencies and the railroad over the past week have asked people to report the sighting of asphalt materials on the riverbank via email to rpderailment@mtrail.com, and have listed a phone number — 888-275-6926 — for the Oiled Wildlife Care Network to report animals with oil on them.

No reports from the public had been received, Peronard said.

Bonogofsky argued it shouldn’t have taken more than a week to develop a cleanup plan, especially since it’s known what materials the trains haul through Montana, as well as the damage the 2011 oil pipeline spill caused.

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“We should have plans in place for this and we should have learned our lesson in 2011,” she said, arguing that work to clean up the asphalt binder could have happened at the same time they were removing rail cars from the water.

The last of the rail cars was expected to be removed from the water on Sunday, Peronard said, while agricultural users were notified that they could resume using river water for irrigation. Their irrigation canals had been shut down as a precaution.

Cleaning up spills of petroleum products is “somewhat of a losing game,” Peronard said. “We are never going to recover all of the oil here … and there’s likely to be impacts when we are done. That is unavoidable.”

As far as the cleanup delay, he said the response to any accident starts with protecting human lives, controlling the source of the spill and then protecting the environment. He said the agency also had to make sure its cleanup plan did not cause more harm than good for bird and turtle nests in the area.

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Cleanup crews also have to stay at least a half mile away from eagles nesting in the area, Peronard said.

The spilled asphalt material is not water soluble, he said.



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Montana

15-year-old girl killed in crash near Jordan

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15-year-old girl killed in crash near Jordan


JORDAN – A 15-year-old girl was killed and a 16-year-old boy was injured in a one-vehicle crash near Jordan.

The Montana Highway Patrol reports the crash happened Wednesday shortly before 7 p.m. on Highway 200 at mile marker 178.

The patrol said the girl was driving a Chevrolet Suburban westbound on the highway when the vehicle went off the right side of the road and overturned. The patrol said the girl was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected. She died at the scene.

The extent of the boy’s injuries was not released, but he was taken to an area medical facility. Both teens are from Sand Springs.

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I'm Jon Tester. This is why I want Montana's vote for Senate.

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I'm Jon Tester. This is why I want Montana's vote for Senate.


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I’m Jon Tester. I’ve lived down a long dirt road outside of Big Sandy all my life, where I still farm the same land my grandparents homesteaded more than 100 years ago. For me Montana always comes first — and I’ll work with anyone, including Republicans, to defend our state.

Out here, your word is your bond, and you look out for your neighbors. A handshake still means something. And that’s why Montana is the greatest state in the greatest country on earth.

But that Montana that we know and love is changing, and the Last Best Place is at risk of being lost forever. I want to make sure Montana remains the place that we grew up in or made you want to move here, where you don’t need to be a millionaire to hunt, fish, or afford to live here. That’s why after talking with my wife Sharla, I decided to run for reelection — because the state we love is worth defending.

This is our last shot to protect Montana for all of us, not just multimillionaires, hedge funds, and big corporations. Wealthy outsiders are coming into our state, jacking up prices and trying to change our way of life. I won’t let them.

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U.S. Sen. Jon Tester prepares to debate GOP challenger Tim Sheehy on campus at the University of Montana in Missoula, Mont., Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (The Missoulian via AP)

My opponent Tim Sheehy is one of them. Here is a guy that moved here recently from the big city suburbs, bought up a bunch of properties across Montana, and then started charging folks $12,500 to hunt on his land. Sheehy is part of the problem, not the solution.

If anyone thinks Tim Sheehy will stand up to the out-of-state interests buying up our housing, I’ve got beachfront property in North Central Montana to sell them. If anyone thinks Tim Sheehy is going to protect our public lands, I’ve got an audio tape of him pledging to transfer them off so wealthy outsiders can buy them up for themselves. If anyone thinks Tim Sheehy would send the government packing when they try to interfere in our personal lives, just look at how he wants politicians to make health care decisions for Montana women, robbing them of their freedoms.

Those aren’t the Montana values we grew up with.

Here, we work hard for what we’ve got. We know that nothing is given, and everything is earned.

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MONTANA SENATE RACE SHATTERS SPENDING RECORDS AT $309 PER REGISTERED VOTER

So every day, I wake up and go to bat to keep Montana the Last Best Place. And I’ll work with Republicans, Democrats, and Independents to do it. That’s why former President Trump signed more than 20 of my bills into law to help veterans, crack down on government waste and abuse, and support our first-responders. That’s why I have repeatedly called out President Biden’s failed border policies, and am working to hire more Border Patrol agents to secure the southern border and shut off the deadly flow of fentanyl. It’s why I’ve stood tough against the Chinese Communist Party, holding them accountable for flying a spy balloon over my state and working to stop them from getting a foothold on American soil by banning them from buying up our farmland. It’s why I’m working hard to lower costs like housing, keep our public lands in public hands, and push back against one-size-fits all regulations from the Biden administration that just don’t make sense for rural America – like when they tried to strip funding from Montana schools over made-up D.C. hiring practices, or tried to undermine our Second Amendment rights and stop our schools from teaching hunter safety courses.

BILLINGS, MONTANA - SEPTEMBER 2: Montana Democratic Senator Jon Tester speaks to and visits with union members at a Labor Day campaign stop where he was presented with an award from the Alliance for Retired Americans on September 2, 2024 in Billings, Montana. (Photo by William Campbell/Getty Images)

BILLINGS, MONTANA – SEPTEMBER 2: Montana Democratic Senator Jon Tester speaks to and visits with union members at a Labor Day campaign stop where he was presented with an award from the Alliance for Retired Americans on September 2, 2024 in Billings, Montana. (Photo by William Campbell/Getty Images) (William Campbell)

The truth is that Montana’s way of life is on the line, and we have a choice. We can fight to protect our state and hold on to the freedoms that make it great, or we can let Tim Sheehy and his out-of-state, special interest backers turn it into a playground for the rich.

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If you want Montana to stay a place where you can afford to raise your family, where you don’t have to be a millionaire to hunt or fish or buy a home, and where our freedoms are protected, then this election is your last best chance to choose someone who will defend that Montana way of life.

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For me, this has always been about Montana – and always will be.



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Montana deputies have suspect after man found dead in what at first appeared to be a bear attack – East Idaho News

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Montana deputies have suspect after man found dead in what at first appeared to be a bear attack – East Idaho News


The following is a news release from the Gallatin County, Montana, Sheriff’s Office, which concerns the investigation into the death of 35-year-old Dustin Kjersem. Kjersem’s friend found his bloodied body in a tent and thought Kjersem was the victim of a bear attack. Authorities are now saying Kjersem was murdered. Click here for more background on this story. We will post more details on this investigation as they become available.

The Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office has identified a suspect in the Moose Creek homicide. The suspect is currently in custody on unrelated charges. The suspect is cooperating with our detectives and has led us to the evidence we have identified in prior press releases.

The investigation into this homicide continues. It is believed the suspect acted alone and there is no longer a threat to the community. Further details and charges are forthcoming, but it is important for this community to know they are safe to resume their outdoor activities. The Sheriff’s Office will have no further comment in regard to this investigation until charges are filed.

RELATEd | A 911 caller found his friend’s body in Montana and thought he was the victim of a bear attack. Police now say it was a homicide.

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I want to thank the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office Detectives for their unrelenting pursuit of justice on this case. They have worked day and night for nearly three weeks with limited sleep, limited time with their families and limited time to themselves. They have prioritized the safety of this community and the need to locate Dustin Kjersem’s killer above all else. It is this type of dedication that makes the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office and all law enforcement officers special. This community should be proud of the men and women who have chosen a life of service to keep you, your families, and your friends safe.

I would also like to thank the multiple other agencies who have dedicated their time and energy into this case. The Montana Department of Criminal Investigation (DCI), the Montana State Crime lab, the Montana Department of Corrections, Probation and Parole, the Medical Examiner’s office, the Montana Highway Patrol, the Missouri River Drug Task Force, Jefferson County Montana Sheriff’s Office, Butte-Silver Bow Law Enforcement Department, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, Custer Gallatin National Forest and Gallatin County Sheriff Search and Rescue.

Our thoughts and prayers continue for the family of Dustin Kjersem. We hope, by some small measure, our efforts can bring them a bit of peace during this horrific time. Our entire community mourns with you.

– Sheriff Dan Springer

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