(The following article by Robin Fitzgerald appeared on The Sun Herald website on November 5.)
GULFPORT, Miss. — The city’s fire chief said he wants to know why a railroad company waited an hour to notify his agency of a train derailment Monday that spilled diesel fuel on the west side of downtown Gulfport.
No one was injured, but about 1,600 gallons of diesel fuel leaked at the Kansas City Southern rail yard just north of 33rd Street. The derailment is the second in the rail yard since Sept. 1, when a KCS worker was injured while a train carrying sodium hydroxide, a hazardous material, left the tracks.
The Gulfport Fire Department learned about last month’s derailment only after a passer-by called, said Fire Chief Pat Sullivan.
“We don’t play with people’s well-being or the community’s right to be protected from any type of hazard,” he said. “We’re requesting meetings with the company to address these issues.
“I could understand the company’s protocol if they have an incident in Anywhere, Mississippi, miles away from any community,” Sullivan said. “But diesel is flammable, and their rail yard is in our downtown area and two blocks west of U.S. 49.”
The accident on Monday happened around 9 a.m. when a switch engine, or locomotive, that was pulling 38 cars ran off the tracks, he said. The first boxcar, which contained paper products, clung to the tracks by its rear wheels, he said.
KCS notified the Department of Environmental Quality in Jackson.
“Our hazardous response team wasn’t given an opportunity to respond,” Sullivan said. “What if it had created a major fire, and we could have been there to prevent it? Fumes from diesel can also make people become ill, or it can get in ditches and react with something in the drainage, causing other problems.”
A crane moved the train off the tracks. An environmental crew dug ditches around the spill and used a vacuum truck to start removing the fuel.
The cleanup is expected to be completed this morning, a KCS spokeswoman said. The accident remains under investigation.