(The following story by James T. Hammond appeared on The State website on April 8.)
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The train wreck at Graniteville three years ago was a wake-up call for federal, state and local emergency planners that has brought stricter U.S. regulation of trains and tank cars, and increased use of warning systems.
On Monday, an attorney for Avondale Mills, Terry Richardson, said the textile company — which closed after a train wreck and toxic chemical spill on Jan. 6, 2005 — has agreed to settle a lawsuit with Norfolk Southern railroad. The lawsuit sought $420 million in damages.
Richardson and Robin Chapman, a spokesman for the Virginia-based railroad, would not provide the settlement amount.
Chapman said a portion of the settlement would not be reimbursed by insurance and would be recorded as a $13 million expense in Norfolk Southern’s first-quarter earnings, which will be announced April 23.
Three years after rail cars ruptured in Graniteville, killing nine people, injuring 250, and forcing the closure of a textile mill, railroad regulators have tightened regulations, and studies continue to measure the long-term health effects of chlorine gas.
But the same sort of railroad cars that spilled death in Graniteville continue to rumble through Columbia and the University of South Carolina campus, where more students than ever before sleep near the web of rails that cut through the fast-growing part of the campus.
The Greek Village, the new Wheat Street residence halls, and private residential developments have put a large and still growing number of people within sight of Columbia’s downtown rail yards.
The Graniteville accident spurred some changes:
• USC has siren, loud-speaker, text and voice mail notification systems in place.
• Federal officials are taking over enforcement of safety rules previously left to the railroads, to prevent future accidents. Railroads face fines of up to $16,000 for noncompliance. The new rules address such human errors as failure to set track switches to the correct position, errors the Federal Railroad Administration says contribute to too many accidents.
• Columbia has implemented a “reverse 911” telephone notification system. In the event of a chemical spill or other hazard in the downtown area, an automated system would call all telephones in the danger zone. Mayor Bob Coble said he also has had contacts with an emergency text messaging provider that can send cell phones such warnings.
• Safety standards for tank cars, such as those carrying the chlorine that engulfed Graniteville, have been revised.
• On Monday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a $200,000 grant to Aiken County to conduct an assessment of hazardous substances in the soil around Graniteville. The Brownfields and Land Revitalization grant will help establish the marketability of the land for redevelopment purposes.
Chip McKinney, USC’s spokesman, said the university works closely with railroad and city officials to stay prepared.
“We have been involved with both railroad companies — CSX and Norfolk Southern — to discuss topics such as the types of shipments that pass through the campus,” McKinney said.
USC has received a federal grant to pay for sirens and loud-speakers at five locations around campus, a direct result of post-Graniteville planning.
Erik Svendsen, an environmental epidemiologist with the state Department of Health and Environmental Control, said the state continues to adjust to Graniteville’s changing needs.
“DHEC is doing a number of different things to help the recovery process. We established a registry of people affected by the accident,” Svendsen said. “As we have public health services available, we’ll know how to contact them.”
“We’ll continue to see what are their needs and respond to them as long as is necessary,” he said. “We’ll change our services that we offer as new needs arise.”
Columbia officials say there is still room for improvement in safety measures.
Coble said he would like to see improved notification from the rail companies about hazardous shipments that pass through the city. He said the rail companies have been reluctant to provide such information.
“(Graniteville) has clearly highlighted the importance of our homeland security and fire department operations,” Coble said. “The reverse 911 right now is the best method to get the word out in the middle of the night, when people don’t have the televisions turned on.”
A long-planned renovation of tracks in the Assembly Street area would improve motorist convenience, but Coble said he’s not sure it would make much difference from a safety standpoint.
“We would still have the same number of trains, just going through different neighborhoods.”
(The Associated Press contributed.)