Nearly 13,000 Litres Aviation Fuel Spill Beside Kamloops Lake

(KAMLOOPS LAKE, BRITISH COLUMBIA) Nearly 13,000 litres of aviation fuel spilled beside Kamloops Lake after a Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) freight train derailed on the evening of Saturday, November 1, 2025, about 20 kilometres west of Kamloops. The derailment sent 17 rail cars off the track near Cherry Creek, including four loaded with fuel and five carrying gypsum, prompting an overnight response to keep fuel from spreading in the water and along the shoreline.

Officials said there were no injuries, and containment work began within hours.

“There were no injuries, and the cause of the derailment is under investigation,” CPKC confirmed.
By early Sunday morning, responders had installed floating containment booms on Kamloops Lake, and environmental teams began water sampling and shoreline inspections. Initial estimates from the B.C. Environment Ministry put the release at about 12,700 litres of aviation fuel from one rail car directly beside the lake. CPKC later provided a preliminary estimate suggesting the total loss from two fuel cars could be as high as 80,700 litres. The ministry’s official figure for the initial spill remains at nearly 13,000 litres while sampling and verification continue.

Local officials moved quickly to inform communities along Kamloops Lake.

“The 17-car Canadian Pacific Kansas City locomotive derailed about 20 kilometers west of the city directly beside Kamloops Lake. The rail company confirmed two of the four cars carrying fuel have leaked into the surrounding environment,” said Michael Gier, director for the Thompson Nicola Regional District.
The regional district also sought to calm immediate fears about contamination, stating: “There’s no current risk to drinking water.” Interior Health and the Skeetchestn Indian Band joined coordination calls with provincial and federal authorities as testing got underway and cleanup ramped up.

The derailment’s position on the lake’s edge raised early concerns that wind and waves could spread the aviation fuel farther along Kamloops Lake’s surface. Responders observed a sheen extending beyond the initial containment area during gusty conditions, even after booms were in place. Crews added more booms and absorbent materials along likely drift lines and reinforced existing barriers to counter the wind-driven spread. Shoreline teams began daily walks and boat-based inspections to map the extent of any sheen and to prioritize sensitive stretches for protective measures.

Water sampling started soon after the booms were installed, but laboratory results were still pending as of November 5, 2025. Provincial officials said those results would guide the next phase of cleanup and help determine whether any fuel constituents had moved into deeper water or onto nearby shorelines. In the meantime, responders reported a fuel odor detected in the small community of Frederick, across Kamloops Lake from the derailment site, a reminder that even with booms in place, vapors and surface sheen can travel under certain wind conditions.

On the rail side of the response, CPKC undertook fuel transfer operations to remove remaining aviation fuel from the derailed cars. Product transfer from the intact portions of the fuel cars was completed or scheduled as cleanup progressed, reducing the risk of further releases. The company also engaged a Shoreline Clean-up Assessment Technique (SCAT) professional—an expert trained in coastal and inland waterway cleanup—to guide the assessment and prioritize actions along Kamloops Lake. SCAT teams typically document oiling conditions, recommend site-specific tactics, and track cleanup effectiveness over time; in this case, the technique is being applied to aviation fuel, which can evaporate and disperse differently than heavier oils.

By November 6, 2025, containment and cleanup were still underway. Multi-agency coordination calls were being held daily to align efforts by CPKC, the B.C. Environment Ministry, the Thompson Nicola Regional District, Interior Health, the Skeetchestn Indian Band, and Transport Canada. Those calls covered boom placement, shoreline priorities, fuel recovery, and the logistics of moving equipment and personnel along the rugged lakeshore west of Kamloops. The teams also discussed contingencies for stronger winds, including adding layers of booms at strategic points and staging extra absorbent materials in case the sheen jumped barriers again.

The numbers behind the incident help explain the caution in the response. Four of the 17 derailed cars carried fuel, and two have been confirmed as leaking, according to local officials. While the B.C. Environment Ministry’s 12,700-litre estimate reflects the initial observed release from one car, CPKC’s preliminary figure of 80,700 litres lost from two cars underscores the need for careful verification and broad sampling along Kamloops Lake’s shoreline and surface waters. Aviation fuel is a light petroleum product that can evaporate more quickly than heavier oils, but it can still cause harm to aquatic life and shore habitats if it concentrates in sheltered areas or soaks into soils. Those risks are driving the emphasis on water testing and the use of booms and absorbents to corral and remove any product that remains on the surface.

As the investigation proceeds, CPKC and provincial officials have kept the focus on immediate hazard reduction. Fuel transfer operations limit the chance of any secondary leakage from the derailed cars. SCAT-led shoreline mapping helps crews prioritize where to deploy clean-up teams along Kamloops Lake’s long and sometimes inaccessible shores. The daily briefings foster a single picture of conditions, helping agencies coordinate so that protective actions on one stretch of shoreline are in step with sampling results and observations from another.

Communities around Kamloops Lake have been told that no injuries were reported among the train crew or responders, and that health authorities are in the loop as data comes in. The Thompson Nicola Regional District repeated its message that there is no current risk to drinking water while tests are pending. That assurance is important for residents who draw water from the lake or nearby wells, but officials emphasized that laboratory results will determine whether that assessment holds as conditions change. If sampling shows contamination hotspots or concentrations above thresholds, responders could shift tactics, adjust boom configurations, or add targeted shoreline cleanup.

The location near Cherry Creek added complexity to the response. The track hugs the Kamloops Lake shoreline west of the city, leaving limited room for heavy equipment and making access a challenge for both rail recovery crews and environmental teams. Calm water can aid containment, but Kamloops Lake can pick up chop when winds funnel along the valley, pushing a surface sheen beyond boomed areas. Responders said they had seen some sheen escape containment during windy periods, prompting them to lay additional booms and reinforce the lines closest to the site. Absorbent pads and skimmers have been used to capture fuel inside the boom corral, and shoreline checks continue where light rainfall or waves can refloat trapped product.

Transport Canada is participating in coordination, and the broader rail safety framework provides the backdrop for the investigation into the derailment’s cause. While officials have not speculated on what went wrong, they have said the cause is under investigation, and the presence of dangerous goods—aviation fuel—triggers specific response protocols. Information about federal rail safety requirements is available from Transport Canada rail safety.

For residents along Kamloops Lake, the lingering question is how much fuel ultimately reached the water and how long cleanup will take. With water quality results pending and the official spill volume still pegged near 13,000 litres by the province, the higher preliminary number from CPKC looms over the response. If subsequent testing and inspection support the larger figure, crews may need to extend containment and conduct more intensive shoreline work. If results align closer to the initial estimate, the operation could shift more quickly toward monitoring and targeted remediation.

As of midweek, authorities said the immediate priorities remained the same: maintain strong containment on Kamloops Lake, continue fuel recovery and transfer from the rail cars, expand shoreline assessments guided by SCAT protocols, and coordinate closely across agencies and with local communities. The presence of a detectable fuel odor in Frederick across the lake shows how conditions can vary day by day, depending on wind and temperature. That variability is one reason for ongoing daily coordination calls, which allow responders to adjust quickly if sheen patterns change or if water sampling reveals unexpected pockets of contamination.

In the days after the derailment, the balance between caution and reassurance has defined official messaging. “There’s no current risk to drinking water,” the regional district emphasized, while also noting that test results would confirm the picture as they arrive. The practical steps—booms on the water, absorbents at the ready, product transfer completed or scheduled, and shoreline specialists on the ground—are meant to keep the aviation fuel contained and to limit its spread along Kamloops Lake. With

“There were no injuries, and the cause of the derailment is under investigation,” CPKC said,
communities are left waiting for both scientific results and the outcome of the safety probe to understand how this derailment happened and what it will take to fully restore the lake’s edge.