Maine train derailment that led to injuries and fire caused by beaver dam: Officials

SANDWICH ACADEMY GRANT TOWNSHIP, Maine — A train derailment in rural Maine that spilled hundreds of gallons of fuel and hospitalized three workers was attributable to a beaver dam, state officials said.

The April 2023 freight train derailment took place in heavily forested Somerset County and also led to a forest fire. Railway owner Canadian Pacific Kansas City led cleanup and repair efforts after the derailment, in which three locomotive engines and six train cars carrying lumber and electrical wiring went off track.

A permitting and compliance manager for the Maine Land Use Planning Commission said during a Wednesday meeting that excessive water flowed through a beaver dam and washed out part of the track, the Bangor Daily News reported. A flow that allows water to go through a beaver dam let go and a massive amount of water came down through culverts under the railroad tracks, Audie Arbo said.

Three railway workers were treated and released after the derailment. Locomotives and lumber cars caught fire at the time, and an estimated 500 gallons (1,895 liters) of fuel spilled.

Restoration efforts at the site were completed by late 2024, according to a letter sent by state officials to Canadian Pacific Kansas City.