Tracks at site of Pennsylvania oil train derailment cleared: operator

[February 15, 2014]  NEW YORK (Reuters) — Norfolk Southern on Friday cleared the tracks of tank cars carrying Canadian crude oil that derailed in Pennsylvania and said the spill that resulted from the accident was slightly larger than it first estimated.

The transportation company said in a statement that 3,500-4,500 gallons had spilled, up from its initial estimate of 3,000-4,000 gallons, an increase that equates to 12 barrels of oil.

Most of the oil had leaked onto a parking lot and some had sunk into nearby soil, the transportation company said, adding it had cleared up 75 percent of the spill.

It said shipment along its Conemaugh Line, which runs from Pittsburgh to a stop near New Florence, will resume on Saturday morning.

The 120-car train was carrying crude oil, liquefied petroleum gas and other products when 21 tank cars went off the tracks and crashed into an industrial building at a bend by the Kiskiminetas River in the town of Vandergrift.

There were no reports of injury or fire in the accident, the latest in a string of similar crashes that have prompted calls for stronger safety standards.

"Nineteen of the derailed cars remain staged at the scene but away from the track, and NS will begin transloading crude oil inside 18 of those tankers into other rail cars for transport away from the scene," the statement said.

(Reporting by Sabina Zawadzki; editing by Amanda Kwan)

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