(The Associated Press circulated the following story on August 15.)
WALLACE, La. — A Union Pacific Railroad train carrying hazardous cargo on its way from New Orleans to Little Rock, Ark., was partially derailed but there were no major leaks, company officials said.
Out of 131 cars, 47 were derailed along the line between St. John the Baptist and St. James parishes, Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis said.
Eleven of the cars derailed were empty. Of the remaining 36 cars, one was carrying chlorine, two were carrying ethylene oxide, a highly flammable fumigant, 14 were carrying petroleum, six were carrying steel and the others were carrying various flammable and combustible liquids.
Davis said the only leaks so far appeared to be from the cars holding the petroleum, which he described as a crude oil.
“We will clean up the dirt once the derailed cars are moved out of the way,” he said Friday.
Crews were still at the scene Friday analyzing the derailed cars and checking for more leaks. Davis said they also monitored the air throughout the night to determine whether any hazardous materials had seeped into the atmosphere.
Workers began removing the derailed cars at about 7 a.m. The process, he said, will “take 12 to 20 hours before those are upright.”
The only people onboard the train were the conductor and the engineer and there were no injuries reported and no evacuations ordered, state police said.
The accident happened about 30 miles north of New Orleans in an agricultural area. The only house was about a quarter-of-a.m.ile away, Davis said.