MINNEISKA, Minn. — Crews have placed oil-absorbing booms and sandbags along railroad tracks in southeastern Minnesota to soak up oil that leaked out of a tanker car last month.
The car dribbled about 12,000 gallons between Red Wing and Winona Feb. 3. Officials say little oil collected in any one spot because the train was moving, but some pooled when the train stopped for 45 minutes near Minneiska (min-ee-ISS'-kah) for a crew change. The site is near Weaver Bottoms, a major backwater of the Mississippi River, and the oil became apparent with the warmer weather.
Canadian Pacific spokesman Ed Greenberg says the railroad has placed booms and sandbags along a short segment of track, and applied oil-eating microbes to the surface. He says there's no trace of the oil beyond the track area.
