LUPTON, Ariz. (AP) — Interstate 40 was reopened in both directions Sunday as fire crews continued watch over a controlled burn of remaining fuel from a freight train derailment near the Arizona-New Mexico state line, a local fire chief said.
Earlier evacuation orders have now been lifted.
“It's all under control," said Fire Chief Lawrence Montoya Jr., of McKinley County, New Mexico. “Our hazmat team is on site, along with our well-trained firefighters.”
Montoya, the incident commander at the scene, said the controlled burns were still consuming remaining fuel on some cars. He said no one was hurt in the Friday derailment of the BNSF Railway train near Lupton, Arizona, which occurred on the New Mexico side of the tracks, or during the subsequent firefighting operation.
For a time, the eastbound lanes of Interstate 40 were closed around Holbrook, Arizona, and the westbound lanes of the interstate were closed at Grants, New Mexico.
The New Mexico Department of Transportation reported Sunday that motorists should continue to expect heavy smoke in some areas, as well as long delays that could require them to seek other routes or postpone travel to the area.
Montoya said firefighters continued to remove debris from the area and that repair of the tracks was under way.
The cause of the derailment remained under investigation Sunday, said Montoya. He said investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and other federal agencies were at the scene.
In this photo provided by David Yellowhorse, a freight train carrying fuel derailed and caught fire, Friday, April 26, 2024, east of Lupton, Ariz., near the New Mexico-Arizona state line. Authorities closed Interstate 40 in both directions in the area, directing trucks and motorists to alternate routes. (David Yellowhorse via AP)
This frame grab taken from video provided by Bryan Wilson, shows a freight train carrying fuel that derailed and caught fire, Friday, April 26, 2024, near the New Mexico-Arizona state line, east of Lupton, Ariz. Authorities closed Interstate 40 in both directions in the area, directing trucks and motorists to alternate routes. (Bryan Wilson via AP)
Interstate near Arizona-New Mexico line reopens after train derailment as lingering fuel burns off
Interstate near Arizona-New Mexico line reopens after train derailment as lingering fuel burns off
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Monday issued an order blocking a Chinese-backed cryptocurrency mining firm from owning land near a Wyoming nuclear missile base, calling its proximity to the base a “national security risk.”
The order forces the divestment of property operated as a crypto mining facility near the Francis E. Warren Air Force Base. MineOne Partners Ltd., a firm partly backed by Chinese nationals, and its affiliates are also required to remove certain equipment on the site.
This comes as the U.S. is slated on Tuesday to issue major new tariffs on electric vehicles, semiconductors, solar equipment and medical supplies imported from China, according to a U.S. official and another person familiar with the plan.
And with election season in full swing, both Biden and his presumptive Republican challenger, former President Donald Trump, have told voters that they’ll be tough on China, the world’s second-largest economy after the United States and an emerging geopolitical rival.
The Monday divestment order was made in coordination with the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States — a little-known but powerful government committee tasked with investigating corporate deals for national security concerns that holds power to force companies to change ownership structures or divest completely from the U.S.
A 2018 law granted CFIUS the authority to review real estate transactions near sensitive sites across the U.S., including F.E. Warren Air Force Base.
MineOne purchased the land that is within one mile of the Air Force base in Cheyenne in 2022, and according to CFIUS, the purchase was not reported to the committee as required until after the panel received a public tip.
The order was vague about the specific national security concerns, with the Treasury Department saying only that there were issues with “specialized and foreign-sourced equipment potentially capable of facilitating surveillance and espionage activities” that “presented a significant national security risk.”
A representative from the firm did not respond to an Associated Press request for comment.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who serves as the chairperson of CFIUS, said the role of the committee is “to ensure that foreign investment does not undermine our national security, particularly as it relates to transactions that present risk to sensitive U.S. military installations as well as those involving specialized equipment and technologies.”
The committee is made up of members from the State, Justice, Energy and Commerce Departments among others, which investigates national security risks from foreign investments in American firms.
CFIUS directed the sale of the property within 120 days, and that within 90 days the company remove all structures and equipment on the site.
President Joe Biden, from second left, is greeted by Col. Tasha Lowrey, Joint Base Myer–Henderson Hall commander, and Command Sergeant Maj. Michael Fisheras, as he walks off of Marine One at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington, as he returns from a weekend in Delaware, Monday, May 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
FILE - The entrance to F.E. Warren Air Force Base is pictured May 24, 2018, in Cheyenne, Wyo. President Joe Biden on Monday, May 13, 2024, issued an order blocking a Chinese-backed cryptocurrency mining firm from owning land near the Wyoming nuclear missile base. The order forces the divestment of property operated as a crypto mining facility near the base. (AP Photo/Mead Gruver, File)
