DELAWARE RIVER VALLEY – The Upper Delaware Scenic & Recreational River (UPDE) was created as a unit of the National Park Service (NPS) National Wild & Scenic Rivers System by an Act of Congress in 1978 (Upper Delaware Act P.I. 95-625 November 10, 1978).

Since its inception, Upper Delaware NPS personnel have responded, along with numerous other federal, state and local agencies, to train derailments and resultant spills, most notably the derailment of August 9, 2018 near Deposit, NY, when an estimated 4,000 gallons of diesel fuel were released into the waters of the West Branch. 

Beginning at the confluence of the East and West Branches of the Delaware at Hancock, NY, the UPDE extends 73.4 miles downstream to Railroad Bridge No. 2 near Mill Rift, PA, and is mandated, along with numerous cooperating partners, to protect and manage the river and 55,575 acres of land associated within the designated boundaries.

The management partnership includes 15 municipalities, New York State, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Delaware River Basin Commission, the Upper Delaware Council (UDC) and the NPS.

The UDC, headquartered in Narrowsburg, NY, in close cooperation with the above entities, is responsible for implementing the UPDE River Management Plan (RMP), while the NPS “partners with the UDC, local, county, state, and federal agencies, and community organizations, through collaboration and technical assistance.”

While the NPS is not the primary response agency for hazardous materials spilled from a train derailment, it is an integral part of the overall incident response mobilization network

Lindsey Kurnath, superintendent of the Upper Delaware Scenic & Recreational River, was recently contacted for comments about the potential of train derailments within the river corridor, and the role of the NPS in such incidents. The original RMP does not address derailments.

In 1997, the UDC, in collaboration between Conrail (the rail carrier at the time) and the Riverkeeper Network, with support from the NPS, prepared an emergency response guide (ERG) for the Upper Delaware River Valley to address multi-agency responses to railway emergencies from Port Jervis to Deposit, NY.

The Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) was the primary class railway serving the northern United States from 1997-1999 (the effective date of the ERG).

Today, New York, Susquehanna & Western Railway Corporation / Central New York Railroad Corporation runs freight trains along 123 miles of track through the Upper Delaware River corridor, while Norfolk Southern (the company behind the East Palestine derailment) owns the underlying property of the track. Miles of track adjacent to the river are subject to potential wash-outs, a fact noted by Barbara Arrindell, director of Damascus Citizens for Sustainability.

“The guide’s intent was for use by emergency response personnel and [railroad] employees to identify and access special sites on [railroad] property,” said Kurnath. She noted that in the aftermath of the 2018 incident, “the UDC engaged its stakeholders, including the NPS, in a discussion that led to the decision to update the guide.”

According to Kurnath, in 2020 the NPS contacted the national spill response program at Fort Collins, CO “for direction and support,” and in coordination with the Department of the Interior Inland Oil Spill Preparedness Program, the NPS was awarded funding to complete an updated Delaware River Oil Spill Coordination Framework. “The NPS/UPDE continues to work on finalizing the deliverables identified in the proposal,” she added.

Reaching beyond the local landscape

The National Response System, a unit of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is a “multi-layered system involving individuals and teams from tribal, local, state, and federal agencies, as well as industry and other organizations.” At the heart of the system is the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan, which “outlines the process to ensure that the federal government’s responses and expertise are available immediately for response actions that are beyond the capabilities of local and state responders.”

Kurnath explained that park rangers serving in the UPDE, are trained as first responders in all levels of the Incident Command System (ICS), calling it the standard for emergency management “across all United States public agencies for planned and emergency events.”

In 2021, the NPS, UDC and the EPA, along with state and local agencies, met to discuss staging a training opportunity to simulate a train derailment in the river corridor involving spillage of hazardous materials into the river and related ecosystems.

On the topic of whether the NPS/UPDE have in place procedures for derailments and notifications, Kurnath responded in part that similar to other emergency operations plans, the NPS “deploys the National Incident Management Plan (NIMP) and ICS to coordinate with the U.S. EPA, United States Coast Guard (USCG) National Response Center and local agencies via their 911 dispatch centers to respond to incidents, including derailments and spills.”