(The following story by Rebecca Neal appeared on The Indianapolis Star website on January 12.)
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — More than 70 angry Far-Westside residents packed the Wayne Township Fire Department headquarters Friday night, demanding answers about last weekend’s train derailment.
Resident Roger Schultz uses well water and is upset about potential groundwater contamination from spilled chemicals.
“For the next two weeks, I’ll be showering, drinking and cooking this water,” he said.
More than 30 rail cars derailed at Girls School Road, south of Rockville Road, when a train from Buffalo, N.Y., slammed into runaway cars that had broken loose from the Avon rail yards about 3 a.m. Sunday. Two CSX employees were injured, but their injuries were not serious, company spokesmen said.
Marion County Health Department officials think that about 50 wells exist within the area and have identified 16 so far. The department is testing water as a precaution, and results will be back in about two weeks.
Officials were on hand Friday from CSX, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and the Wayne Township Fire Department.
IDEM officials now estimate that about 1,900 gallons of diesel fuel spilled, along with about 27,000 gallons of soybean oil and 21,000 gallons of lubricating oil. About 1,000 gallons of fertilizer also spilled.
Resident Jennifer Crittenden said rumors were spreading in her neighborhood about a blue liquid being spilled. Sutton said that was lubricating oil.
“Anything blue like that is not natural,” she said.
Tom Drake of CSX’s office of public and government affairs said the company would reimburse public agencies and cover all cleanup costs.
“Investigators are still reconstructing the steps and the sequence of events that allowed this to happen,” he said. “Clearly a set of cars were not secured the way they should have been.”
Several residents complained about emotional distress stemming from the crash and said they wish they had been better notified about what was happening. Drake tried to offer his apologies but few listened.
“We very truly regret the disruption this has caused in your lives. You’ve had very little rest or sleep since last Sunday,” he said.
Others wondered about how the accident would affect their property values or homes.
Raymond Henderson was concerned about the condition of his home after the derailment.
“It was like an earthquake. The whole house shook. What I want to know is if you are sending out a structural engineer,” he asked.
Officials at the meeting said they would schedule another town hall meeting in a few months to keep residents informed about the clean-up and any long-term consequences. Sutton promised repeatedly that IDEM and other agencies would work to eliminate any contamination and hold CSX accountable for the crash.
“They’ll monitor it long-term until we’re cleaned up,” he said.