Determining reasonable response actions following a fly ash spill in the headwaters of Banff National Park, Canada

It can be challenging for practitioners to determine reasonable response actions following an environmental spill because there are risks associated with the recovery process, acute constraints on time, and few case studies available from antecedent events. Here, we evaluate environmental risk using a screening level assessment (SLA) and describe risk management actions during the response phase of a train derailment that released 600 tonnes of fly ash into a headwater creek in Banff National Park, Canada. Trace metal concentrations, and physico-chemical parameters from downstream of the derailment site were compared to Canadian environmental quality guidelines and upstream reference values. There was a 1 to 2.2-fold exceedance of sediment quality guidelines (As, Cd and Se) as well as a 3.6 to 17.5-fold exceedance of water quality guidelines (Al, Cd, Fe and turbidity) downstream of the train derailment. Despite uncertainty about site-specific toxicity when using a SLA, we did require th..., The methods of data collection are given in more detail within the accompanying peer-reviewed article. Abbreviated version here:  
At approximately 03:00 on December 26, 2014, a train derailment occurred on the transcontinental rail line at a stream crossing at the west end of the Town of Banff, in Banff National Park, AB, Canada. The derailment released 600 tonnes of fly ash and a carload of soybeans into Forty-Mile Creek, a fourth-order valley-bottom creek that meanders through montane forests. Forty-Mile Creek enters the Bow River 300 m downstream of the derailment site. The Bow River is a fifth-order river that originates from the glacier-fed Bow Lake at the continental divide. The discharge of the Bow River is approximately 20 times greater than the discharge in Forty-Mile Creek during baseflow conditions. Based on the product MSDS and fly ash literature, we identified a list of sediment and water trace metals in addition to water physico-chemical parameters as contaminants of pote..., , # Determining reasonable response actions following a fly ash spill in the headwaters of Banff National Park, Canada

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.7wm37pw2c](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.7wm37pw2c)

## Description of the data and file structure

* Current Version: 1.0.0
* Date: 2024-06-26
* Persistent identifier: DOI: [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.tqjq2bw4w(opens in new window)](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.tqjq2bw4w)
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* Dataset Title: Data for: Determining reasonable response actions following a fly ash spill in the headwaters of Banff National Park, Canada
* Creators: Mark K. Taylor
* Publisher: Parks Canada
* License: Use of these data is covered by the following license:
* Title: CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0)
* Specification: [https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/(opens in new window)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/); the author respectfully request to...