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Canada Pacific train derails and spills coal ash and lentils into creek near a national park

No injuries have been reported.

By Thor Benson

BANFF, Alberta, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- A train hauling coal ash and lentils in the Canadian province of Alberta derailed on Friday and spilled its cargo into a creek near Banff National Park.

The Canada Pacific train was 15 cars long, and seven of the cars fell into Banff creek. Authorities expressed concern about the likely pollution the derailment will cause and the fact the lentils could attract bears to an unsafe area, but Parks Canada has stated there is no known environmental impact thus far, the Calgary Herald reports.

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Crews will soon be damming the creek so the ash and lentils don't flow into the nearby Bow River.

"I think this is a warning not to be so cavalier about environmental spills, whether they be from pipelines, trains or tailings ponds," David Schindler, an ecology professor at the University of Alberta, told the Calgary Herald. "Eventually we will have a spill in the wrong place and it will be disastrous."

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