(The following appeared on the Advocate website on March 9, 2009.)
BATON ROUGE, La. — Work crews on Sunday removed a railroad tank car carrying molten sulfur and rebuilt a train trestle at Plaquemine — a day after a southbound Union Pacific freight train derailed, Louisiana State Police said.
Once the tank car carrying the molten sulfur was removed, it was inspected and transported to Addis in West Baton Rouge Parish, Trooper Russell Graham said.
He said La. 1 at the Bayou Plaquemine railroad bridge will continue to operate as a two-way road on the northbound side. The southbound side of the bridge will remain closed, he said.
The highway — from La. 992-3 south of Plaquemine to La. 1148, north of the city — was originally closed in both directions Saturday after five of 67 Union Pacific tank cars came off the tracks just after 5 a.m., Graham said.
Also as of 6:30 p.m. Sunday, a shelter-in-place, which had been issued Saturday for neighboring homes and businesses, was lifted, he said.
The state Department of Environment Quality continued to collect air samples throughout the cleanup, he said. DEQ also tested the water downstream from the bayou as a precautionary measure, spokesman Rodney Mallet has said.
The Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Office and other local, state and federal officials also worked with State Police, Graham said.
Graham said the train car carrying approximately 20 tons of molten sulfur hit the side of the bridge, causing a small amount of it to leak. The wooden trestle at the bridge’s northern end had to be rebuilt.
Union Pacific officials have said the train was traveling 16 miles per hour and hauling cargo from Donaldsonville in Ascension Parish to area plants when cars 47 through 50 derailed and fell off the bridge. A fifth car, No. 51 derailed, but remained on the bridge.
The other tank cars had been emptied before the derailment, Graham said. Residue from the chemicals the train was carrying, including anhydrous ammonia and styrene monomer, remained, he said.
Anyone with questions or concerns about the chemical spill can call Union Pacific at (877) 877-2567, option 1.