(The following story by Andrea Kersten appeared on The Angleton Times website on January 14.)
ANGLETON, Texas — Half a dozen damaged rail cars with “Do Not Board Hazardous Materials Car” spray-painted along the side line a stretch of track on Texas Hwy 35.
According to Angleton Fire Department Chief Rick Perry, concerned citizens have been calling with questions about safety.
“It?s perception that is the problem here, people are calling me scared because these damaged cars are parked on a busy highway for ten or 12 days,” Perry said. “The railroad has a yard that they can put these in where people can?t see them, but no one there will talk to you. From my point of view, the railroad could care less.”
The hazardous materials placard that hangs on one of the cars indicates the chemical 4-Thiapentanal was stored in it.
The 2000 Emergency Response Guidebook states that this chemical is highly toxic, and may be fatal if inhaled, swallowed or absorbed through skin and may explode if heated.
If the chemical did catch fire, the area within half a mile in every direction would have to be evacuated.
According to a Union Pacific Representative the cars are documented as empty and are scheduled for repair.
“We have no other comments,” said O. Robinson, a local Union Pacific employee.
“That car may have 500 gallons of chemical in it and is still considered empty,” Perry said. “Even if they are empty there could be residue which could be even more dangerous because there is a lot of vapor space than there would be in a full car. If this vapor would ignite it could cause a massive explosion.”
Perry is also concerned about the railroad?s lack of communications with local emergency services like the AFD, Angleton Police and the sheriff?s department.
“They gave us no consideration when they have a derailment in the past several months,” Perry said. “It is deplorable in my opinion because we train constantly for accidents and they don?t even contact us. Their attitudes have gotten worse in the last couple of years.”
According to Perry, better communications would lead to a safer city.
“I received a call from a chemical company a while back about something that could have possibly become a volatile situation,” Perry said.
“The railroad didn?t contact us when the car derailed, the chemical company called when they wanted to transfer it from on car to another. That chemicals odor was measured in parts per billion and a one-cup spill would have been smelled all over Angleton, a large spill would be a considerable health hazard.”
Contacting the fire department before an incident such as this would allow firefighters and emergency personnel to have a head start in the case of a spill, said Perry.
“Yes, they do have people that clean the spills, but they are three to four hours away,” he said. “In three to four hours we could have a serious incident on our hands and (AFD) would have to start from square one instead of already being aware. They need to move those cars immediately.”