BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - The Environmental Protection Agency is sending someone to the site of an oil train derailment and fire in Wells County to gauge any contamination to waterways in the vicinity of the wreck.
Spokesman Rich Mylott says the rail line through Heimdal runs next to an intermittent waterway known as the Big Slough, which drains into the James River about 15 miles downstream near Bremen.
No one was hurt in the BNSF Railway train derailment and fire. Residents of Heimdal were evacuated as a precaution.
State Environmental Health Chief Dave Glatt says people with respiratory problems should avoid breathing smoke from the fire. He says the danger from the smoke is mainly the particles it contains such as ash, not from toxic chemicals.