(The following article by Ben Baeder was posted on the Whittier Daily News website on March 11.)
SANTA FE SPRINGS, Calif. — Police on Thursday arrested a 14-year-old boy on suspicion of intentionally pulling an unlocked railroad switch lever and causing a train carrying chemicals to derail in Santa Fe Springs.
Union Pacific Railroad officials say the boy, whose name was not released because he is a minor, confessed he pulled the railroad switch at about 5:48 p.m. Wednesday, while the train was moving along tracks near Pioneer Boulevard and Los Nietos Road, the railroad’s spokesman John Bromley said.
Once pulled, the switch routed part of the train onto a parallel track, which caused it to split into two halves. Three of the center cars derailed, knocking over two utility poles.
No one was injured. No chemicals leaked from the cars, Bromley said.
“(The lever) was equipped with a lock, but it may not have been locked,” said Warren Flatau , spokesman for the Federal Railroad Administration.
He added that administration investigators were very concerned that a boy was apparently able to derail a train so easily.
“There is a chance the Federal Bureau of Investigation could get involved in this,” Flatau said. “This is a serious matter.”
The boy was charged with felony train wrecking and was released to his parents, Whittier Police Department spokesman Alan dela Pena said. His arraignment is scheduled May 10.
Authorities believe two other boys also were present when the train derailed. They could likely be cited for trespassing on railroad property, police said.
A video camera may have caught the act, Santa Fe Springs Fire Department Chief Neal Welland said.
Some of the cars were carrying chemicals, according to warnings on the tanks. Tanks carrying chlorine gas are commonly shipped via rail to chemical plants in Santa Fe Springs.
A serious collision or derailment of a train carrying chlorine gas could release a toxic cloud that could cause injury and death up to 14 miles from the derailment, according to reports from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Local officials also expressed concern.
“As soon as we can, we want to talk to the railroad and see how they are going to handle this,” said Fernando Tarin, Santa Fe Springs’ director of police services.