NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

INCIDENTS

Jefferson National Expansion Memorial

Man Gets Pickup Stuck While Driving In Railroad Tunnel

Rangers Dan Sweeney and Sean Beasley were on patrol last Tuesday when they received word that an unauthorized vehicle was on the train tracks that run through the park. A white Chevrolet Pickup was in the south tunnel facing southbound on the railroad tracks. The truck appeared to be wedged between the tracks and the wall of the south tunnel.

The driver appeared intoxicated and was taken into custody and moved away from the tracks. He was subsequently transferred to St. Louis Metropolitan Police custody.

The track is under the jurisdiction of the Terminal Railroad Association and is an active track, carrying both Amtrak passenger trains and freight trains from a number of other rail lines. Terminal Railroad engineers checked the tracks through the tunnel and discovered damage to multiple railroad control boxes.

The railroad tracks are elevated along the Saint Louis riverfront. The nearest street-level crossing is at Biddle and North First Street, over a mile away. It appears that the driver drove onto the tracks and was able to negotiate his way along the tracks before becoming stuck in the tunnel on the Arch grounds.

At report time, Terminal Railroad Engineers were still working on removing the vehicle. They believed they had to bring a unit with a crane and a flatbed on at Biddle Street and drive down and extract the truck.

Steve Korsgren, law enforcement supervisor, acted as IC for the incident.

[Mike Horton, Law Enforcement Specialist]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's webpage editions of InsideNPS (available to NPS employees only) and the Morning Report (available to all readers):

Capitol Reef NP - Capitol Reef National Park has become the seventh NPS unit to achieve designation as an International Dark Sky Park by the International Dark-Sky Association. It has been named a “Gold Tier” park, the association's highest ranking.

Water Resources Division - The severe drought in California impacts national parks in many ways, including water rights. The Water Rights Branch of the Water Resources Division is working with California parks to respond to the situation.

Biological Resource Management Division - The Biological Resources Division has released the Exotic Plant Management Team (EPMT) Fiscal Year 2014 annual report. A link is provided.

Office of Communications - The NPS has awarded NAGPRA grants totaling just under $75,000 to eight tribes. They will assist in the repatriation of individuals and sacred objects, objects of cultural patrimony and funerary objects to the tribes.

George Washington Memorial Parkway - Blanca Alvarez Stransky has been selected as deputy superintendent at George Washington Memorial Parkway in northern Virginia.

To see the full text of these stories, readers should go to one or the other of the following sites:

NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index

Non-NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/" http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/

The Morning Report is produced by the Office of Communications with the support of the Office of the Associate Director for Information Resources. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov).

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