Freight train carrying hot asphalt and molten sulfur plunges into Yellowstone River as bridge fails

COLUMBUS, Mont. — A bridge spanning the Yellowstone River in Montana collapsed early Saturday morning, plunging parts of a freight train carrying hazardous materials into the rushing water below.

The train cars were carrying hot asphalt and molten sulfur, Stillwater County Disaster and Emergency Services said. Officials shut off downstream drinking water intakes while assessing the danger after the 6 am accident. An Associated Press reporter saw a yellow substance coming out of some of the tanker cars.

David Stamey, the county’s emergency services chief, said there was no immediate danger to crews working on the site and the hazardous material was being diluted by the rising river. There were three cars of asphalt and four cars of sulfur in the river.

The train crew was safe and no injuries were reported, Andy Garland, a spokesman for Montana Rail Link, said in a statement. Both asphalt and sulfur solidify quickly when exposed to colder temperatures, he said.

Railroad crews were at the scene in Stillwater County near the city of Columbus, about 40 miles (about 64 kilometers) west of Billings. The area is in a sparsely populated section of the Yellowstone River Valley, surrounded by ranches and farmland. The river flows from Yellowstone National Park, which is about 110 miles (177 kilometers) to the southwest.

“We are committed to addressing any potential impacts to the area as a result of this incident and working to understand the reasons behind the accident,” Garland said.

The bridge collapse also destroyed a fiber optic cable that provides internet service to many customers in the state, high-speed provider Global Net said.

“This is the main fiber route … through Montana,” a recording on the company’s phone line said Saturday. “This is affecting all Global Net customers. Connectivity will be down or extremely slow.”

In neighboring Yellowstone County, officials said they instituted emergency measures at water treatment plants due to “potential spillage of hazardous materials” and asked residents to conserve water.

The cause of the collapse is under investigation. The river was swollen from recent heavy rains, but it is not clear if that was a factor.

Yellowstone experienced record flooding in 2022 that caused extensive damage to Yellowstone National Park and adjacent towns in Montana. Robert Bea, a retired engineering professor at the University of California at Berkeley who has analyzed the causes of hundreds of major disasters, said repeated years of strong river flows provided a clue to the possible cause.

“The high flow of water translates into large forces acting directly on the pier and, more importantly, on the river bottom,” Bea said. “There may be erosion or scour that removes foundation support. High forces translate into a high probability of structural or foundation failure that could act as a trigger to initiate the accident.”

An old highway bridge that paralleled the railroad bridge (collectively, they were called the Twin Bridges) was removed in 2021 after the Montana Department of Transportation determined it was in imminent danger of collapsing. It was not immediately clear when the railway bridge was built or last inspected.

Bea said investigators would also want to see if there was any wear or rust on the bridge components, as well as a record of maintenance, repair and inspections.

Federal Railroad Administration officials were at the scene.

Kelly Hitchcock of Columbus Water Users cut off the flow of river water to an irrigation ditch downstream of the collapsed bridge to prevent the contents of the tank cars from reaching nearby farmland. The Stillwater County Sheriff’s Office called the group Saturday morning to warn them of the collapse, Hitchcock said.

The US Environmental Protection Agency notes that sulfur is a common element used as a fertilizer, as well as an insecticide, fungicide, and rodenticide.

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Johnson reported from Seattle.