(The Associated Press circulated the following article on January 18.)
CLINTON, Iowa — Traci Beecher is used to the sound of trains passing by her Clinton home, but the rumbling she heard recently prompted some worry.
After stepping outside to see what was causing all the raucous, she saw that a derailed train had smashed through her fence and stopped against some trees — just a few feet from her home.
Around noon yesterday, an empty tanker car headed for the Archer Daniels Midland Company corn sweetener plant derailed. The train tracks run alongside Beecher’s home and are owned by ADM.
Beecher says she had been warning ADM and the Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railroad about the dangerous condition of the tracks for months.
ADM had crews cleaning up Beecher’s property yesterday.