(The Register-Guard posted the following story by Susan Palmer on its website on July 1.)
EUGENE, Ore. — A hazardous materials team responded to a chemical spill in the west Eugene rail yard on Monday that injured three railroad employees.
The incident occurred at 12:50 p.m. in the rail yard when liquid phenol splashed out of a tank car and onto at least one yard crew member, who was decontaminated by firefighters at the site, Eugene district fire Chief Joe Zaludek said. Another worker also may have breathed the fumes, he said.
The spill occurred when the crew was switching the tank car from a train, said John Bromley, a Union Pacific Railroad spokesman in Omaha, Neb. He said three employees were taken to the hospital and treated, and two were released. One was expected to be released within 24 hours, he said. He declined to give their names.
It wasn’t known how much of the chemical spilled, he said.
Phenol – a versatile substance used to make plastics, resins, fertilizers and paints – is highly poisonous, Zaludek said. The worker decontaminated at the site had phenol on his neck, back, arm and hand, he said.
He walked from the tanker to meet the hazardous materials crew in a grassy area east of Highway 99, where Bethel Drive curves to the south. There, the crew set up a containment area, using plastic to form a small tub, and hosed him off for 20 minutes, Zaludek said.
The railroad also provided an antidote, a substance that binds with the phenol making it easier to remove, he said.
The man was then wrapped in plastic, so that he wouldn’t contaminate the ambulance, and taken to the hospital. Both the worker and ambulance crew member riding with him breathed through respirators to avoid inhaling any lingering fumes, Zaludek said.
Because of federal medical privacy laws, neither Sacred Heart Medical Center nor McKenzie-Willamette Hospital will release condition information without patient permission.
Some hazardous materials crew members also were hosed off after the incident. The railroad will dispose of the water used for cleanup, Zaludek said.According to a federal Web site on toxic substances, phenol can cause mild to severe chemical burns depending on the length of time it is in contact with a person’s skin. Breathing phenol vapors can burn the lining of the nose, throat and lungs. The skin easily absorbs the chemical, which can cause irregular breathing and irregular heart rhythms as well as seizures and coma.
Union Pacific is investigating the cause of the accident, Bromley said.