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CSX fined $2.2 million for 2015 West Virginia oil spill

The Class I railroad will pay $1.2 million to the U.S. government and $1 million to West Virginia for the environmental damage caused by the derailment.

   The Justice Department on Tuesday said the Class I railroad CSX Transportation has agreed to pay up to $2.2 million in water pollution violation penalties related to an oil spill that was caused by a train derailment at Mount Carbon, W.Va., in 2015.
   The settlement requires CSX to pay $1.2 million to the U.S. government and $1 million to West Virginia.
  On Feb. 16, 2015, a CSX train containing 109 railcars of crude oil derailed at Mount Carbon. Twenty-seven of those cars, each holding about 29,000 gallons, derailed and half of those exploded and burned. A house and garage near the derailment site was destroyed and oil from the wreckage seeped into the Kanawha River and Armstrong Creek.

Chris Gillis

Located in the Washington, D.C. area, Chris Gillis primarily reports on regulatory and legislative topics that impact cross-border trade. He joined American Shipper in 1994, shortly after graduating from Mount St. Mary’s College in Emmitsburg, Md., with a degree in international business and economics.