At approximately 7:00 a.m. this morning, Saturday July 16, 2011, two locomotives and 17 cars

of a 110 car westbound BNSF freight train derailed at the Rice Creek bridges at the east end of

Locke Lake. Two BNSF train crew members were injured in the incident but have both been

treated and released from area hospitals. The train was transporting corn meal in covered

hopper cars so no hazardous cargo was involved. The two locomotives fuel tanks did spill an

undetermined quantity of diesel fuel into Rice Creek and Locke Lake. HazMat teams from

BNSF and Fridley Fire responded immediately to assess and contain the diesel fuel spill.

Private contractors retained by BNSF have deployed containment and absorption booms at

three locations in Locke Lake and Rice Creek, all in an attempt to contain and capture the spill.

The derailment was believed to have been caused by washed out tracks just north of the two

railroad bridges. This washout was caused by heavy rains, unofficially reported to have been in

the 5 - 6" range, during the early morning hours. The train was on the western most tracks, but

struck the eastern set of tracks as they derailed severely damaging that bridge as well.

BNSF is currently working to restore one track and bridge which they hope to

have back in service by sometime Monday. They will initially move derailed cars

and locomotives out of the way of the track restoration effort. Once that is completed, they will

work on removing the damaged cars which they estimate will take several days. BNSF crews will be working around the clock until emergency repairs are completed and one track is restored to service. After that, they expect repairs to progress during daytime hours. The damaged track and bridges resulted in the suspension of all BNSF freight traffic, Northstar Commuter trains, and Amtrak service.

BNSF is aware of the fact that Locke Lake property owners have been affected by the diesel fuel spill. The MN Pollution Control Agency is on site and is overseeing the cleanup. They recommend that property owners take no action to clean affected shoreline or vegetation at this time. Crews are working to collect the spill. Property owners are also advised to document and take photos of damaged or affected vegetation or other property. If you do have a claim for damages, you may contact the BNSF Claims Representative:

Michael Horton, BNSF Railway

80 44th Ave NE

Minneapolis, MN 55421

763-782-3351

People are also advised to curtail recreational activities in/on Locke Lake and Rice Creek in the

vicinity of the spill until further notice. This means no swimming, floating, fishing or boating.

We will be establishing a news page on the City's website www.ci.fridley.mn.us within the next

few days to provide updated information as it becomes available. Thanks for your consideration

and patience as we work to recover from this incident.