Rail company cleaning up Cannon Falls after molasses explosion

Mar. 25—CANNON FALLS — With molasses having rained down over a half of a square-mile area, the City of Cannon Falls and Progressive Rail worked hard Tuesday to clean the mess from Monday's rail car explosion.

At about 7 a.m. Monday, a tanker car loaded with molasses burst, spewing the sugary food product into the air and coating a small area west-northwest of the rail facility, with most of the molasses falling within the rail site, said Minnesota Pollution Control Agency spokeswoman Cathy Malakowsky.

"Our main concern is the impact to the (Cannon) river, and impacts to public spaces and private homes," she said.

Cannon Falls Police Chief Jeff McCormick said vehicles and buildings near the railyard saw the most serious damage, but the city received reports of molasses fallout on the west side of U.S. Highway 52.

"It was ejected from the (rail) car up into the air," he said. "The size of the droplets would determine how fast it dropped or whether it was carried by the wind..

McCormick said Progressive Rail, which has a loading facility at the end of a rail spur that terminates at their site at 1022 N. Fifth St., had crews cleaning the area while the police department was fielding calls to gather locations where people reported the molasses had dropped.

Fortunately, he added, the building where the rail car was sitting when the explosion occurred contained most of the molasses.

"The rail company or their insurance company will have to deal with any cleanup for it," McCormick said.

Malakowski said city vacuum trucks were kept ready in case some of the material was reported in any streets, and crews used a yard-sweeper machine to rake up the solid molasses residue found on the land. An absorbent boom was deployed to keep the molasses, which was being dissolved by the rain Monday and Tuesday, from running into the river.

In a few areas, she said, the food product was reported to be found 6 to 8 feet deep.

Fortunately, most of the cleanup should be completed Tuesday, Malakowski said, though the MPCA and other agencies expect to receive calls from homeowners over the next week or even month as the molasses gets discovered in odd places.

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