(The following story by Cory Matteson appeared on the Lincoln Journal Star website on March 16, 2010.)
LINCOLN, Neb. — A train derailment in a Lincoln rail yard on West O Street caused a scare early Tuesday because one of the cars that toppled held about 93 tons of chlorine.
Had chlorine escaped the tanker, a five-mile area downwind of the spill likely would have been evacuated.
Winds were blowing from the north-northwest at the time, Lincoln Fire and Rescue Deputy Chief Pat Borer said, meaning the evacuation would have affected an area from the yard to five miles south.
“That location was an extensive part of the city of Lincoln,” Borer said.
Emergency crews were called to the Hobson Yard, 801 W. O St., on a report that multiple cars had gone off the tracks at about 2 a.m. Borer said 15 cars turned completely on their sides.
Little information about the cause of the derailment was available.
Borer said Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway officials estimated the train was going no more than 20 mph.
BNSF spokesman Steve Forsberg said he was told 19 empty cars were involved, as well as the chlorine-filled car and another containing grease.
“Why they derailed we don’t know,” Forsberg said.
Tuesday evening, the investigation was still ongoing. Forsberg said the tracks should be reopened by early Wednesday morning.
BNSF crews spent Tuesday morning clearing out the empty cars surrounding the one that held chlorine. The chlorine was transferred to a new tanker, Forsberg said.
Although emergency crews were informed by BNSF the chlorine appeared to be contained, Borer said emergency planners prepared for the worst.
In 2005, nine people were killed and about 5,400 forced to evacuate when tons of chlorine poured from a ruptured Norfolk Southern tanker in Graniteville, S.C.
Norfolk Southern agreed last week to pay $4 million in penalties to the federal government, and to restock a pond to replace at least 3,000 of the fish that were eradicated when the cloud settled over it in 2005.
“It’s very apparent where the chlorine goes,” Borer said. “You can see the vegetation all dies. If it gets into the waterways, the wildlife dies as well, because it’s a very toxic chemical.”
Rosa Parks Way and U.S. 77 near the crash were closed for several hours.
“There were a lot of concerns this morning,” Borer said. “A lot of precautions taken.”