California IN BRIEF : SACRAMENTO : River Spill Called Nearly Cleaned Up

Workers say they have nearly finished cleaning up a toxic chemical that spilled into the Upper Sacramento River in a train derailment, killing plant and animal life as it flowed into Shasta Lake. “I would say that the first stage will be over soon,” said Dennis Wilson of the state Regional Water Quality Control Board. “Now what we’re looking at is restoration . . . of the river. We’re away from the toxics problem and into the biological problem of how to restore the ecosystem.” A Southern Pacific train derailed July 14, spilling up to 19,000 gallons of pesticide into the river. The chemical killed aquatic life in more than 40 miles of the prized fishing stream. Fumes temporarily sickened scores of people along the way. Several days later, the pesticide flowed into Shasta Lake, the state’s largest reservoir. Banky Curtis, regional manager of the state Fish and Game Department, said levels of the chemical in the lake had fallen to nearly undetectable levels.