Great Western locomotive liquid spill identified

The liquid that spilled from a Great Western locomotive Monday has been identified as a corrosion inhibitor from the radiator, according to Lt. Mike Blackwill of the Windsor-Severance Fire Protection District.

The Windsor-Severance Fire Protection District and Windsor Police Department were dispatched to the 200-gallon spill, which initially was thought of as a possible antifreeze spill, on the tracks just north of Windsor Auto Repair in the 300 block of E. Chestnut St.

Blackwill was the lead investigator on the spill. He said the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment was aware of the spill and has contacted representatives at the railroad.

"They keep those locomotives running all the time, so they can not put antifreeze in them," Blackwill said. "If it has some sort of mechanical breakdown, like that one did, then they have to shut the engine down. While they shut the engine down, they drain the radiator because it has just water with a little bit of the corrosion inhibitor."