(The following story by Rebecca Neal and Josh Duke appeared on the Indianapolis Star website on January 8.)
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Cleanup from the Far-Westside train crash will take longer than expected after state officials learned Monday that far more chemicals than previously thought had leaked from smashed cars.
Indiana Department of Environmental Management spokeswoman Amy Hartsock said that 69,700 gallons of soybean oil, 21,000 gallons of lubricating oil, 25,000 gallons of diesel fuel and 2,000 to 3,000 gallons of fertilizer leaked into soil, a drainage ditch and a small creek after the crash Sunday.
“Our focus is on recovery and removal of as much liquid as possible right now,” she said. “Any of the contaminants in those quantities can affect plant life or animals by causing a disruption to the ecosystem.”
The Marion County Health Department called for nearby residents still on well water to seek testing to make sure their drinking water is not contaminated.
The crash occurred about 3:30.a.m. Sunday when a train headed from Buffalo, N.Y., toward the CSX’s Big Four Yard in Avon collided with runway cars that had been released accidentally. A locomotive engineer and a conductor were injured.
Officials said Sunday that they thought about 3,500 gallons of locomotive diesel fuel and 2,000 gallons of soybean oil had spilled during the crash.
CSX spokesman Garrick Francis said crews would continue to put train cars back on their tracks this afternoon.
CSX has just begun looking into what caused the runaway cars to break loose, he said, but no cause has been determined. Trains are being rerouted around the crash site.
“We are focusing on cleaning and getting everything in the area back to as normal as possible and then will focus more on the investigation,” he said.
Francis would not identify the injured employees and would give no information about their conditions.
Hartsock expects the cleanup to continue through the week. IDEM’s biggest concern is the liquid fertilizer, which can produce ammonia that could kill fish and other wildlife.
State crews have contained the materials in Julia Creek, which meanders south from the drainage ditch into the Quemetco Industrial Park west of Girls School Road.
There is little to no risk of water contamination from the spill, but county Health Department spokesman John Althardt said officials want to identify residents on well water. Those residents can have their water tested for free.
Jennifer Bonesteel, who lives on Lenora Street next to the tracks, said authorities reassured neighbors that the spilled liquids poised no threat.
“I walked past there, and it was just bundles of metal,” she said. “All of the cars were twisted and stuck together. As far as disasters go, we got really lucky.”
The accident forced the closure of part of Girls School Road and the Wayne Branch of the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library. Officials aren’t sure when Girls School Road between Rockville Road and Morris Street will reopen.
Library spokesman Jon Barnes said the library might reopen Wednesday or Thursday. Neither the library nor the property was damaged, but the parking lot is being used as a staging area for cleanup workers.
The crash site is about a mile south of the Ben Davis High School campus, where more than 6,000 students attend classes. Tom Langdoc, director of school and community services for Wayne Township Schools, said if Girls School Road hasn’t reopened by this morning when students head back to school from winter break, alternate routes will be used.