Oil pooling at creek near Gogama train derailment: Environment Ministry

Morning North7:51Investigation into derailment near Gogama

Why did 29 cars carrying crude oil jump the tracks near Gogama? We get the latest on the investigation into the derailment from Rob Johnston, manager of the head office and central regional operations with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.

Ontario's Ministry of Environment says someof the spilled crude oil from the rail cars that derailed nearGogamais pooling near the rail line andat the headwaters of a small, nearby creek.

ACNspokesperson says the product has been contained in a slough at the site and has not entered nearby waterways or lakes. CN environmental teams are finalizing clean up plans and preparing to move forward with mitigation work.

CN has reported that 29 cars carrying crude oil from Alberta jumped the tracks late Saturday night. Seven of the cars caught fire at the site, about 80 km south ofTimmins.Fires werestill burning late Tuesday, but due to the extreme coldCNsaid the carsare being left to burn out.

The Transportation Safety Board said15 cars were breached and are releasing oil at thetrain derailment site.

CNhas boomed the nearby creek to prevent the oil from migrating downstream, said a spokesperson for Ontario's Ministry of Environment, adding theministry has been on the site since the weekend ensuring the company is managing the situation properly.

Dillon Daveikis of Sudburyflew over the site in a helicopter on the weekend.

"When the smoke cleared, you could see a tangle of railway cars and most of them were tanker cars that had been accordioned up to one another. And there was a spill off on the west side of the tracks," she said.

• Gogama, Ont. train derailment: safety of shipping oil by rail questioned

Rob Johnston ofthe Transportation Safety Board of Canada saidinvestigators don't yet know how much product hasspilled. They're looking at a couple of clues about what might have happened, including a section of broken rail containing a rail joint, and also a broken wheel.

Johnston saidthere is no way to estimate how long the clean-up will take.

According to an email from CN, air monitoring shows there are no safety issues for the crews working in the densely wooded, remote area.

The derailment has also resulted in thecancellation ofVIA Rail passenger service between Toronto and Winnipeg.

• Toronto-Winnipeg Via Rail service affected

Both the eastbound and westbound Canadian trains are not operating.

VIA saidservice will resume once CN reopens the tracks where the derailment occurred.