Federal investigators say removing those derailed oil tanker cars from the James River is going to take longer than first anticipated. Jim Southworth is the National Transportation Safety Board’s lead investigator on the scene, and he said during a late-afternoon press briefing that two of those cars are full of oil — more than 200,000 thousand pounds’ worth each — and the instability of the riverbank is slowing their removal.
05-02 Southworth PM Bite2-WEB
Southworth says there is nothing found so far to indicate the train crew contributed in any way to the Wednesday’s fiery derailment, and all mechanical systems appear to have been functioning properly. The official count now is 17 tanker cars derailed in all, three going into the river and one of those three breached.