(The following story by Jon Krenek appeared on the Kankakee Daily-Journal website on January 20, 2009.)
GLEN PARK, Ill. — Crews started working Monday to clean up the hazardous materials left by Sunday’s CSX Corp. freight train derailment in Grant Park, move the damaged freight cars and repair about 500 feet of track.
Workers found the spill was larger than originally estimated, but officials said it posed no additional threat to the surrounding community or adjacent waterways.
Grant Park Fire Chief Richard Shronts said residents “may smell some fumes” during the cleanup but, he said, “there is no risk to the public.”
Twenty-one cars derailed on the Union Pacific rail line at 7:52 p.m. Sunday. About 50 homes were evacuated as a precaution, but the spill was contained to Union Pacific property and the cold temperatures kept the materials from evaporating and becoming more hazardous, Shronts said.
CSX Corp. spokesman Bob Sullivan said the cause of the derailment still is under investigation.
Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis said crews worked Monday to clean up the spill and repair the rail line. Illinois Route 1 was reopened through downtown Grant Park at 5:30 a.m. Monday after undamaged rail cars were moved.
The rail lines were expected to reopen for service by 1 a.m. Wednesday, Davis said.
Shronts said the only hitch in the cleanup came when crews discovered that about 10,000 gallons of used automobile oil had leaked from one of the tank cars, far more than the 1,000 gallons officials initially estimated.
Davis said contaminated soil will be dug out and shipped away before the rails are replaced.
The second derailed tanker car contained about 5,000 gallons of denatured alcohol, which is flammable and can evaporate into ignitable fumes, Shronts said. Only about 100 gallons of the material was spilled. The remaining material was being pumped out of the damaged rail car and removed.