(The following story by Tim Doherty appeared on the Hattiesburg American website on February 12.)
JACKSON, Miss. — Forrest County officials estimate it could take up to three days to clean up the site of a train derailment Monday morning that spilled more than 3 million pounds of coal.
Sixteen cars in a 100-car Canadian National Railroad train heading south derailed near James Street and Ralston Road about 5 a.m. Monday.
No one was injured in the accident, and no hazardous materials were on the train.
“Just a big mess is all this is,” said Terry Steed, director of Forrest County Emergency Management Agency. “Of all the things that this could be, it’s the lesser of all evils. The only thing better would have been if all (the cars) had been empty.”
Of the 16 cars that tipped off the track, 14 contained coal, said Jim Kvedaras, senior manager/U.S. for public and governmental affairs for Canadian National.
Daniel Johnson, a railway safety investigator for Mississippi Department of Transportation, said it likely would be a while before officials know what caused the derailment.
“We’re probably two days from answering that question,” Johnson said Monday.
Two cleanup crews were expected on-site Monday to begin clearing the fallen cars and long mounds of coal.
Steed said officials were hoping to have the track itself cleared by today.
Hattiesburg police had the eastern entrance to Ralston Road off James Street blocked shortly after the accident.
Last March, a train derailment and chemical spill forced dozens of Forrest County residents out of their homes and sent at least five people to the hospital.
Two of eight Kansas City Southern rail cars that left the tracks ruptured, releasing liquefied sodium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid about a quarter-mile south of U.S. 98 East, officials said.
About 40 homes on and near Ralston and Northgate roads were evacuated.