Train spilled 1,400 tons of coal around California river. Did it violate state law?
Union Pacific, a freight rail company, is accused of violating California law after train cars spilled tons of coal last year into the Sierra Nevada’s largest river.
On Feb. 11, 2024, a train with at least 12 rail cars derailed in Plumas County, near Blairsden, because of a “track defect,” according to a preliminary report issued by the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. About 1,400 tons of coal tumbled across a snow-covered embankment and splashed into and settled around the Middle Fork Feather River, authorities said.
Discussions to settle a civil case between Union Pacific and local prosecutors have been ongoing for months after the California Department of Fish and Wildlife investigated the incident, according to the Placer County District Attorney’s Office. State law prohibits coal from contaminating the state’s waters and imposes a $25,000 civil fine for each penalty.
The prosecutor on this case, through a spokesperson, said he hopes the settlement negotiations are resolved by the end of this year.
No one suffered any injuries after the derailment near Highway 70 on the Feather River Scenic Byway and Camp Layman Road. The spill did not prompt an evacuation order. More than 99% of the coal has been recovered from the Feather River and shoreline, a Union Pacific spokesperson wrote Wednesday in an emailed statement.
“We are following the process that all parties agreed on,” the statement said.
The coal drifted from Plumas County and into Butte County, said Placer County District Attorney Morgan Gire during a Placer County Board of Supervisors meeting in August. The train was headed to Portola.
“These violations, they don’t know county lines,” Gire said during the meeting.
The coal can potentially have “smothering effects” on organisms, said the California Department of Fish and Wildlife in a social media post last year when the train derailed. A department spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment about the clean-up efforts.
This story was originally published October 30, 2025 at 10:27 AM.
