(The Associated Press circulated the following article on June 27.)
HOUSTON — A dozen railcars from a Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight train derailed east of Houston Tuesday, but caused no injuries, a company spokesman said.
Joe Faust, a spokesman for Fort Worth-based BNSF, said the cause of the accident was under investigation, and the railroad had crews and hazardous materials teams on site.
Faust said two of the cars were tank cars containing methanol.
Houston Assistant Fire Chief Omero Longoria said one of the tanker cars leaked about 50 gallons of the flammable liquid in about two hours. Longoria said the leak was contained and no evacuations were necessary.
The rest of the derailed cars contained non-hazardous plastic pellets.
Methanol is a liquid that is a building block for chemical products, such as plastic and paint, and is the chief ingredient of formaldehyde.
Faust said the cars derailed in an unpopulated area during a transfer from a holding yard in Pasadena, just east of Houston, to another holding yard in Daytona, Texas, about 35 miles to the northeast. Holding yards are spaces where the company prepares trains to transport freight elsewhere in the system.