(The following article by Beth Smith appeared on the Henderson Gleaner’s website on July 11.)
HENDERSON, Ky. — CSX railroad officials say they will conduct a thorough investigation into a train derailment in Henderson Wednesday night in which two cars carrying hazardous chemicals turned on their sides.
Representatives of Brenntag Mid-South Inc. in Henderson — the company that was waiting for the chemicals — said they are also looking for answers.
Wednesday’s incident, which occurred about 9:30 p.m. at the rail crossing at Gibbs Die Casting on South Green Street, marked the second time in two weeks that train cars loaded with hazardous chemicals bound for Brenntag came off the tracks.
David Garner, vice-president of operations at Brenntag, said two derailments in two weeks is “very unusual.”
“I’ve been with the company 20 years and I can count on my hand the number of times this has happened,” he said.
But, he said, “It’s been two (derailments) too many. We’ve got a call in to CSX to see what we can do to keep this from happening.”
CSX Spokesman David Hall said an investigation into Wednesday’s derailment could take “days or weeks.”
“Different things can cause (derailments),” he said. “Equipment problems, things on the tracks, the track itself or the weather.
“It’s too early to say what caused the derailment,” he said, adding that train crews will be interviewed and equipment checked. Officials will also review an events recorder which is “much like a black box” on an airplane, Hall said.
Information on what caused the first derailment two weeks ago was also unavailable.
In that first incident — which occurred June 25 at the crossing on Clay Street — cars carrying sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide came off the track by a few inches but stayed right-side up.
In this latest derailment, two cars, one carrying about 90 tons of chlorine and another loaded with roughly 100 tons of potassium hydroxide, came off the tracks and rolled onto their sides.
There were no leaks and no injuries in either situation.
Garner said in the first derailment both chemicals were acids and wouldn’t have posed a major problem for people or the environment if they had leaked.
“But this one (Wednesday’s incident) involved chlorine and that’s more serious,” he said.
Chlorine is a pressurized liquid used in wastewater treatment plants as a disinfectant, he said.
“If it leaks (from the train cars), it would turn into gas and evaporate,” he said.
The fumes would make people nauseous.
“In high enough concentrations, it can kill them,” Garner said.
For that reason, rail cars carrying chlorine are built to withstand a 30 to 35 mph collision, he said.
“Falling on their side is not something you want to see, but they’re built to withstand a lot more than a rollover,” Garner said.
The potassium hydroxide is a caustic soda. “It wouldn’t have fumes. You could be standing a foot away from it and it wouldn’t cause you problems. It would burn you if you touched it,” he said.
The fear of a possible leak prompted authorities to evacuate an approximate quarter-mile radius Wednesday night. City police cordoned off all roads west of Ohio Drive and east of Old Corydon Road.
“Evacuation isn’t an easy decision to make,” said local Emergency Management Director Larry Koerber. “But you have to weigh the risk.”
The most important thing in a situation such as a derailment, Koerber said, is communication among emergency responders and other agencies.
“We need to know when these things happen so we can assess potential problems to the welfare of the people in the city and county,” he said.
Hall said in spite of the two derailments, CSX maintains a solid reputation.
“We have a good strong safety record when it comes to transporting hazardous materials,” he said. “We do everything we can to maintain the safest possible railroad.”