Hay River (Jul 03/06) - A train tanker car full of diesel fuel was knocked onto its side at the Hay River railway yard on June 21.

However, none of the 70,000 kg of fuel spilled and there were no injuries.

Jim Feeny, the senior manager for public and government affairs with Canadian National Railway in Edmonton, said the accident occurred at 7:05 p.m. on June 21 during routine movements in the yard.

Feeny said a locomotive was moving some rail cars when one sideswiped and knocked over one of four stationary tanker cars on another track.

"There was no release of diesel fuel and no environmental impact," Feeny said.

On June 22, the fuel was pumped into another tanker. The knocked-over tanker was lifted upright the following day.

"It's very rare that you would have this kind of incident," Feeny said on Thursday. "Something went wrong and it's under investigation at this time."

CN bought Mackenzie Northern Railway in January, and plans to invest $40 million to improve the line, which runs from about 200 km north of Edmonton to Hay River.

Concerns have been raised in the past about the condition of the line, especially since it would be used to move much of the construction material for the proposed Mackenzie Valley pipeline. However, Feeny says the condition of the track does not appear to have been a factor in the incident.