Northwest Iowa — Railroad companies and the shippers that use them in northwest Iowa are saying with varying levels of certainty that this year’s derailments should not affect the transportation of this year’s harvest.
The Burlington Northern Santa Fe (or BNSF) Railroad had a major derailment near Doon this summer. Early on the morning of June 22, 2018, a freight train hauling crude oil from Alberta, Canada derailed 33 cars just south of Doon due to track that had been washed out due to flooding. The BNSF railroad says it appears ten cars leaked oil for a total of 160-thousand gallons. Some of the crude got into the Little Rock River. The railroad said that over 100,000 gallons were recovered. But the track was soon cleared and the line, which goes between Willmar, Minnesota and Sioux City was soon back in service.
This past Sunday, a Union Pacific train derailed in Alton. There were 95 cars on the train and 37 rail cars derailed. Several rail cars went into the Floyd River. The train was carrying sand and soybean oil. None of the cars were carrying hazardous materials. Officials say the cause of the incident has not been determined, but recent flooding was likely a factor. Sand and soybean oil were released into the river as a result of the derailment. Cleanup continues.
We asked the railroads what effect, if any, the derailments would have on the fall harvest.
A spokesperson for the BNSF says that their line is in service and they don’t anticipate any issues transporting the harvest.
Justin Jacobs, a spokesperson for the Union Pacific Railroad, says that a temporary plan has been put in place regarding freight traffic. Rail traffic is being rerouted, as applicable, and he says they are maintaining constant communications with their customers regarding their shipments. He says more information regarding that can be found at https://www.up.com/customers/announcements/customernews/generalannouncements/CN2018-35.html. But Jacobs says that it would be inappropriate to speculate the effects this incident may have going forward.
Meanwhile, we asked John McDaniel, the CEO of one of the large farmer cooperatives in the area — the Farmers Coop Society — what effect the derailments might have on the harvest for them. He said that like many coops in northwest Iowa, they don’t do any “rail marketing” of grain. That means they send all of their grain to market on trucks and don’t use the railroad. Last year we spoke to another Farmers Coop Society spokesperson who told us that the railroads all want 110-unit grain trains now, and that’s not possible at many northwest Iowa locations.
