Fuel spill in the past at Colwyn Bay?

[clchloe]

Hi,
I came across this while reading the wikipedia page for Colwyn Bay station,

In recent years enforcement action was taken by the Environment Agency when fuel oil spilled from the over-filled tanks of a diesel engine and percolated through the track bed and flowed onto the nearby beach, polluting it.[citation needed]

I can't seem to find any information about this online, and I'm wondering if anyone here knows about what happened?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Definitely a fuel oil spillage at the railway station and not at some filling station (petrol station) on the nearby A55?

 

[clchloe]

Seems so

Rest of the paragraph reads

The station is in an unusual location straddling a curved section of track. As a result, the track bed is cambered so that trains come to rest at the station platform at a significant tilt. In recent years enforcement action was taken...

 

[6Gman]

No date indicated?

 

[Wandering Pom]

It's Wikipedia, so anyone can write anything - hence the "citation needed" note. In this case, the note dates back to at least June 2014, so "in recent years" could be quite some time ago now. It's not obvious from the article's history when that sentence was added.

EDIT: after some more digging through the history, that sentence was added on 29 November 2005. So "recent years" is indeed a while back!

 

[pokemonsuper9]

It's Wikipedia, so anyone can write anything - hence the "citation needed" note. In this case, the note dates back to at least June 2014, so "in recent years" could be quite some time ago now. It's not obvious from the article's history when that sentence was added.

The Oil Spill mention was added in November 2005.

Colwyn Bay railway station: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

+

Colwyn Bay station is in an unusual location straddling a curved section of track. As a result the track bed is cambered so that trains come to rest at the station at a marked tilt. In recent years enforcement action was taken by the [[Environment Agency]] when fuel oil spilled from the over-filled tanks of a [[diesel]] engine and percolated through the track bed and flowed onto the nearby beach, [[pollution|polluting]] it.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Think I'm right in saying that the 'Environment Agency' was established in April 1996, so that perhaps further narrows the date of the possible incident to between then and the mid 2000s (as per the Wiki edit).

 

[Trackman]

Really cant see it myself, overfilled tanks going through the trackbed and into the sea? Firstly, it has a distance to travel if you know the area- if it did reach the bottom through the drainage holes on the prom wall, it would have to cross the road where it would be spotted quickly and wouldn't be going at a rate of knots, cant see it going under the road through the sea wall. It does say 'percolated' so I image this happened over a period of time. I'm probably wrong on what I think, but I'm curious about this, so lets say 2 min dwell time how much can come out an overfilled tank?. Also interested in the class of loco/unit was involved.

 

[Dr Hoo]

Do train fuel tanks not have filler caps?

 

[zwk500]

Having searched for various combinations of Network Rail, Arriva Trains Wales, and Wales between the apparent dates there appears to be no record of the Environment Agency taking any action regarding Colwyn Bay (searching here: https://environment.data.gov.uk/public-register/view/search-enforcement-action)

 

[D6130]

Do train fuel tanks not have filler caps?

Yes....but they sometimes go missing or the depot staff forget to put them back on after fuelling. Happened to me once about 30 years ago on a 142 fresh off Neville Hill and heading for Morecambe. Came to a stand at a signal on a canted left hand curve and noticed a strong smell of Diesel oil. Went to investigate and found fuel dribbling from the uncapped tank filler on the cess side. Reported it to the signaller, reported it again in the unit repair book and submitted a written report before going off-duty. Not much else I could have done really. The signaller contacted control and they said it was OK to continue. Of course, as the journey progressed the fuel level dropped considerably and there was no further spillage.

 

[swt_passenger]

Having searched for various combinations of Network Rail, Arriva Trains Wales, and Wales between the apparent dates there appears to be no record of the Environment Agency taking any action regarding Colwyn Bay (searching here: https://environment.data.gov.uk/public-register/view/search-enforcement-action)

Nothing obvious seems to come up in the online British Newspaper Archive.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Nothing obvious seems to come up in the online British Newspaper Archive.

So, might this have been some fuel spillage at a nearby filling station on the A55 after all?

 

[zwk500]

So, might this have been some fuel spillage at a nearby filling station on the A55 after all?

The nearest filling station today is a bit away from the station and has the A55 between it and the railway before it gets to the beach. The edit is quite specific about it being percolation through the ballast from engines, so I think an overfilled filling station would be unlikely (especially as it's in the station article not the town or the beach).

I did a bit more searching in the British newspaper archive but don't have an account so couldn't read the articles. There were two possible potential sources: the most likely is an editorial in 1999 complaining about the state of the ballast, and the other was a mention of insufficient outflow but wasn't clearly linked to the railway.

The basic premise does seem slightly far-fetched. AFAIK the nearest places a DMU or loco could be fuelled would be Holyhead or Chester, so the units or locos wouldn't be arriving brimmed to the top. Then I wouldn't have thought many trains would stop for more than 2-3 minutes even in the height of summer, so there's only so much fuel that could spill without staff being aware of it. Add in the fact the service isn't massively intense and the ability of the fuel to percolate through in sufficient quantity that the EA gets involved does seem surprising. Certainly not impossible - stranger things have happened of course.

 

[The Puddock]

The basic premise does seem slightly far-fetched. AFAIK the nearest places a DMU or loco could be fuelled would be Holyhead or Chester, so the units or locos wouldn't be arriving brimmed to the top. Then I wouldn't have thought many trains would stop for more than 2-3 minutes even in the height of summer, so there's only so much fuel that could spill without staff being aware of it. Add in the fact the service isn't massively intense and the ability of the fuel to percolate through in sufficient quantity that the EA gets involved does seem surprising. Certainly not impossible - stranger things have happened of course.

I know somewhere (not Colwyn Bay) about 10 years ago where a train struck an object on the line which, as well as causing it to stop, punctured a big hole the fuel tank and 3000L of diesel ended up in the embankment. There’s a note in the Hazard Directory now warning about it. Perhaps it could have been something like that.

 

[zwk500]

I know somewhere (not Colwyn Bay) about 10 years ago where a train struck an object on the line which, as well as causing it to stop, punctured a big hole the fuel tank and 3000L of diesel ended up in the embankment. There’s a note in the Hazard Directory now warning about it. Perhaps it could have been something like that.

That's a specific incident though, the wikipedia article suggests it's more of a long running pattern. Could still be a single incident though, but then curious there's apparently no record of it!

 

[swt_passenger]

I did a bit more searching in the British newspaper archive but don't have an account so didn't read the articles. There were two possible potential sources: the most likely is an editorial in 1999 complaining about the state of the ballast, and the other was a mention of insufficient outflow but wasn't clearly linked to the railway.

Can you repeat your search and tell me the date please, I’ll be able to check the exact wording.

 

[Lost property]

Really cant see it myself, overfilled tanks going through the trackbed and into the sea? Firstly, it has a distance to travel if you know the area- if it did reach the bottom through the drainage holes on the prom wall, it would have to cross the road where it would be spotted quickly and wouldn't be going at a rate of knots, cant see it going under the road through the sea wall. It does say 'percolated' so I image this happened over a period of time. I'm probably wrong on what I think, but I'm curious about this, so lets say 2 min dwell time how much can come out an overfilled tank?. Also interested in the class of loco/unit was involved.

I also know the area very well and I agree, it does seem more than far fetched to suggest the amount of fuel allegedly spilled then made its way to the beach given the obstacles in the way.

" So, might this have been some fuel spillage at a nearby filling station on the A55 after all?"

Slight problem with that theory....there aren't any in the vicinity mentioned.

 

[Falcon1200]

I recall this problem; It was possibly highlighted to Network Rail (NR) staff as an example of our liability when contamination occurs, as although in this case it came from trains, as infrastructure owner NR was held responsible. And IIRC it was indeed caused by fuel spillage from trains stopped at Colwyn Bay due to the previously-mentioned track cant. This would have occurred over a period of time, as opposed to the more usual pollution incidents caused by punctured fuel tanks or damaged tamper hydraulic hoses.

 

[zwk500]

Can you repeat your search and tell me the date please, I’ll be able to check the exact wording.

Editorial was First result of this search: LINK
And the other article is this link: https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003119/19991007/010/0010

Both recorded as published 07 October 1999

(EDIT for forum rules: Unfortunately am not able to quote these sources due to lack of access, thanks to @swt_passenger for doing so on my behalf)

 

[swt_passenger]

Editorial was First result of this search: LINK

Right, then that‘s really just a general comment about Railtrack doing nothing about cleaning up the accumulated oil and toilet waste between the tracks. Doesn’t mention fuel leaks specifically, or the Environment Agency. It’s just a couple of sentences tacked on towards the end of a much longer article about Virgin’s upcoming new trains. Attached below.

.

And the other article is this link: https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003119/19991007/010/0010

That article is only about a water treatment plant and it’s associated outfall

 

[clchloe]

The station talked about in that article is Llandudno

 

[swt_passenger]

The station talked about in that article is Llandudno

Quite right, sorry I assumed the link in post #20 was about Colwyn Bay, but didn’t check any further.

 

[zwk500]

Quite right, sorry I assumed the link in post #20 was about Colwyn Bay, but didn’t check any further.

My apologies, I had set the publication place to Colwyn Bay but obviously couldn't check the content

 

[GardenRail]

I remember when I was a Signaller at Batley back in the days when Transpennine had 158s. You could see fuel splashing out of every 158 as it rounded the s bend over Lady Anne Crossing. Must have been an issue with the units at the time.

 

[Dr Hoo]

I remember when I was a Signaller at Batley back in the days when Transpennine had 158s. You could see fuel splashing out of every 158 as it rounded the s bend over Lady Anne Crossing. Must have been an issue with the units at the time.

Presumably the maintenance practices didn’t include the use of filler caps. Good old BR!