(The following article by Dan Klepal was posted on the Cincinnati Enquirer website on August 31.)
CINCINNATI, Ohio — Even as styrene continued spewing into the air from a rail car near Lunken Airport for the third day, businesses, residents and the mayor were calculating the costs and vowing to hold the railroad and chemical company responsible for the mounting tab.
Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken said the city has already spent an estimated $1 million in responding to the toxic chemical leak that started Sunday night and has forced the evacuation of 814 properties since Monday.
Those people will be allowed back into their businesses and homes today, if only briefly.
Police said residents and business owners can go to the police station at 3295 Erie Ave. beginning at 8 a.m. to get a pass that will allow them into the area for up to an hour.
Luken wanted to lift the mandatory evacuation Tuesday night, but the levels of styrene in the air were close to 20 parts per million, a potential health hazard.
“We understand the plight of the business owners and residents,” Luken said. “But the styrene levels in the air will make people sick. It’s not that we just don’t want them to smell it.”
Two lawsuits, filed late Tuesday in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court on behalf of residents and business owners, seek damages to pay for expenses, stress, lost work hours and punitive damages – punishment for leaving the railcar unattended for months and allowing the styrene to leak.
Both suits accuse Houston-based Westlake Chemicals Corp., the manufacturer of the styrene, of negligence and seek class-action status. One suit also names CSX Transportation Inc., but it remained unclear why it was named. The car sits on track owned by Indiana & Ohio Railway.
Lawyers are meeting today to talk about possibly combining the suits.
Investigators from the Federal Railroad Administration are looking into how the railcar full of a toxic chemical came to rest, unattended for at least five months, near the busy local airport. Officials from Westlake and the railroad also are on scene to help.
Luken said he’s been given no answers about how or why it happened.
“They will not answer that question, or they profess not to know,” Luken said. “That means they are not being forthcoming.
“Like I told them: ‘Wal-Mart can track a pair of socks across the country, and you guys can’t track a railcar full of dangerous chemicals?’ ”
Officials with the railroad and chemical company will announce today a plan to compensate evacuated residents and business owners for their out-of-pocket expenses, and for the inconvenience they’ve suffered since Monday.
Luken said he sought a promise that neither would ask people to sign a waiver in order to get the cash.
“My response was: ‘If you want to give them some money, give them some money. Just don’t ask them to sign a waiver,’ ” Luken said. “My anger at the company continues, and my anger at the rail line, and anyone else who may have caused this, continues.”
Styrene is a dangerous chemical that is used to make plastic. Short-term exposure causes headaches, nausea and dizziness. Long-term exposure has caused cancer in lab rats.
Luken said the threat of the railcar exploding dissipated Tuesday.
Firefighters used an armored SWAT vehicle to approach the railcar Tuesday morning, and then attached heat sensors to the outside of the car so they could monitor the temperature of the styrene.
They also attached a device called a thermal coupler, which allowed them to pump water between the double walls of the rail car, reducing the temperature of the styrene without mixing water with the chemical.
By the end of the day, it had dropped to about 230 degrees.
“That’s less than we thought we’d find,” Luken said. “The explosion threat is over, and we’re dealing with air quality issues now. That’s a good sign for us.”
Officials didn’t know exactly how much styrene was left in the car, but Luken said the car could continue emitting the chemical for up to 11 days.
Authorities think the level of styrene in the tank is considerably lower because the pressure forcing the vapor out of the valve and blown gasket has lessened.
“We can’t stick a dip stick in there and find out how much is left,” the mayor said.
State and federal prosecutors could get involved if investigators find evidence of a crime.
Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said members of his environmental unit are monitoring the situation and will stay in touch with Ohio Environmental Protection Agency investigators. Deters said no criminal accusations have been referred to his office for investigation, yet.
Federal prosecutors have been in contact with the U.S. EPA, but said any talk of potential criminal charges, at this stage, is “very speculative.”
Dixie Peters, a resident of Eastern Avenue for 21 years and a plaintiff in one of the lawsuits, said her biggest concern is the effect breathing the styrene fumes could have on her two children, ages 7 and 8. The Peterses spent the first night with Dixie’s sister, and are now in a hotel because there wasn’t enough space at the sister’s house.
“There been a tremendous amount of inconvenience and anxiety over this,” Peters said. “I’m very concerned about my children. They’re so tiny anyway.”