(The following story by Jon Krenek appeared on the Kankakee Daily-Journal website on January 19, 2009.)
KANKAKEE, Ill. — About 50 homes were evacuated in Grant Park on Sunday evening following a train derailment involving a hazardous materials spill.
The incident caused 21 tanker cars to derail about one-half mile north of downtown Grant Park at 7:52 p.m., including two cars that spilled a flammable alcohol product and waste oil onto the Union Pacific’s easement. Grant Park Fire Chief Richard Shronts said no injuries occurred, and residents were able to return to their homes around midnight.
But at first, firefighters were uncertain how severe the situation really was. Darkness hampered their initial efforts to locate the derailment and figure out what had been spilled.
“It was such a long walk to get down to it, and with the darkness, we had to be careful,” said Shronts. “We did not know until we could get our people in there to make an evaluation and see what had been spilled. The derailment is in a remote area and there is not a lot of access to it.”
Preparing for the worst
The evacuation of several city blocks began about 15 minutes after the derailment occurred, and Illinois Route 1 and 9000 North Road were both closed, Shronts said. Police officers went door to door throughout Grant Park advising residents to stay indoors.
Kankakee County Sheriff’s Police Chief Deputy Ken McCabe said the county’s emergency operations center was also activated to coordinate a wider evacuation, but closed several hours later after officials determined the situation did not represent a widespread threat to the public.
Shronts said a Union Pacific officials believe a bad bearing on one of the train’s wheels caused the derailment, but the matter is still under investigation.
Hazardous spill
The cold temperatures and relatively small amounts of hazardous material that spilled helped mitigate the threat, Shronts said.
The alcohol product — denatured alcohol — is flammable and can evaporate into ignitable fumes, but cold temperatures on Sunday helped minimize the hazard. About 5,000 gallons of the material were in the tanker, and about 100 gallons actually spilled, Shronts said.
The other tanker released about 1,000 gallons of waste oil from automobile engines bound for a recycling center. Shronts said the material is flammable, but the cold temperatures have largely eliminated that risk.
He said the site will require a hazardous waste clean-up, but does not pose a threat to the public. Union Pacific officials will begin work in the morning when light will allow heavy equipment to move safely to the location.
“Our biggest concern now is opening up Route 1,” said Shronts. “The train is blocking the crossing.”
Being advised
Most of the evacuated residents stayed with friends or relatives rather then a warming center officials opened at Community Park. The location was empty when The Daily Journal went there on Sunday evening. But even residents outside the evacuated area knew something was wrong.
Grant Park High School student Cole Willis, 16, said a police officer came to a his friend’s house where he was hanging out, and warned them of the situation.
“They told us to stay in the house, and if we went outside to cover our faces with a towel,” said Willis. He followed those instructions when going to his car to retrieve his clothes and cell phone. But the incident didn’t concern him or his friends much, as Willis told The Daily Journal on Sunday evening, “We’re just chillin.”