Cleanup Continues After Plainfield Train Derailment, Oil Spill

PLAINFIELD, IL — The effort to clean up 40,000 gallons of crude oil continues south of Chicago where a freight train derailed last week.

Canadian National Railways spokesman Patrick Waldron said Monday the company is investigating the cause and circumstances of the derailment in Plainfield, Illinois.

Federal Railroad Administration officials say the agency is also investigating Friday's derailment of 20 tank cars of the 115-car train. Oil leaked from three of the cars, much of it flowing into trenches alongside the tracks.

Plainfield police Chief John Konopek says if a derailment had to happen it was fortunate it didn't occur in a residential area.

Waldron says the environmental cleanup is proceeding well and will continue through the week. The cleanup will include the removal of contaminated soil.

Rail traffic on the line resumed Sunday.

Photo: In this July 1, 2017 file photo, cleanup and containment continues, following the derailment of 20 Canadian National railroad tankers in Plainfield, Ill. Most roads have reopened in Plainfield after the train carrying crude oil derailed about 40 miles southwest of Chicago. Plainfield police say it will take several days to clean up the oil near the village's downtown business district. (Credit: Daniel White/Daily Herald via AP, File)