BRIDGER — A train derailment is often followed by a major cleanup, and the impacts can be long-lasting. Those impacts are something one Bridger resident has been dealing with since October 2022.
On Oct. 1, 2022, a 15-car train derailment occurred a half-mile east of Bridger on BNSF Railway-owned tracks. About 31,000 gallons of fuel spilled onto the ground. But even today, Shala Cullum is as frustrated as she was when it all started.
"It’s a concern as a landowner that Burlington Northern (BNSF) and the DEQ have been very secretive about the extent of the contamination in this area since the derailment. We all know that there was a large fuel spill, as well as animal fat and other products that were spilled out here. There’s obviously things happening, but it’s a huge secret and transparency would go a long way,” Cullum said on Thursday. “We don’t know what happened. There are wells strategically placed throughout the landowner's property. There have been water tests done. I know there are petroleum products as well as Benzine in the groundwater, on the wells that are on our property. Not just wells, but they have also been testing groundwater further and further down towards the river."
Cullum owns property in Bridger where the train cars derailed. Following the derailment, Cullum shared her frustrations with MTN News, saying she was concerned, worried, and sad.
Those feelings never went away. She says she has heard next to nothing from BNSF since then.
“Anytime that there’s a situation like this that’s shrouded in secrecy, it’s uncomfortable. And when it’s your way of life and your living that’s on the line, it just puts things into a whole different perspective,” Cullum said. “More information is better. Communication is essential. Anytime you’re having open and honest communication about what is actually going on, you’re better off. So the secrecy is concerning at best."
Cullum is an agriculture producer and owns cattle. She said she is worried about contamination from the derailment.
“My main concern is for the people out here. But, as an ag producer, our animals are drinking contaminated water. And I would imagine that the hay that we try to produce is also going to be contaminated. In comparison to a lot of places in Montana, we don’t have a lot of property and we don’t have a lot of livestock. But as an ag producer, it takes all of us as a community to provide food for our country," Cullum said. "To me, it doesn’t matter if you have five cows or you have 500 cows. We’re all working together. So this impacts the ag production, even if it is small scale. It’s large scale to my family.”
And while Cullum waits for answers, her list of questions continues to grow.
“I’m certainly not an expert on these particular disasters, and I don’t want to be, quite frankly. I don’t know how Burlington Northern normally handles these things, but this certainly does not feel right. When the disaster happened, they used our entire property for equipment. They’ve used our property for hazmat. We haven’t been compensated for any of that," Cullum said. "We have absolutely no idea what’s in that hay. The hay could have been contaminated from just what they were doing. This used to be a decent road and now it’s a mucky mess.”
For now, Cullum is left hoping.
“They reserve a certain amount of ownership on either side of the railroad tracks," Cullum said. "You would hope that that they would be willing to be honorable and take care of the damage that they have caused, let alone the contamination that has occurred."
MTN contacted BNSF Railway on Thursday for comments but has not heard back.
To read MTN's first report on the Bridger derailment, click here.
To read Cullum's first interview about the derailment with MTN on Oct. 6, click here.
“For the landowners out here, that’s just it. Everything’s been kept so quiet that we don’t really know long-term what this holds for anybody that’s been impacted. As far as a mom, it’s absolutely impacted our life. My husband, that’s all he ever wanted was a piece of land. Between the flood and this derailment, those two things in combination have absolutely changed our future and my children’s future,” Cullum said. “When you’re having to try to figure out whether long-term you can sustain this way of life, it feels pretty hopeless."
Related: In Billings, derailments of hazardous materials on minds of emergency planners
