(The London Free Press News posted the following article on its website on May 22.)
GAMEBRIDGE, Ontario — A freight train derailment involving about 40 cars, some leaking sulphuric acid, forced the evacuation yesterday of part of this small Lake Simcoe town, police said.
Emergency crews contained the noon-hour spill of the highly corrosive acid in a farmer’s field after dozens of residents within two kilometres of the derailment were briefly evacuated, Durham Regional police said in a statement.
There had been concern the acid might leak into a nearby ditch containing water, where it could have let off a toxic vapour, said Sgt. Dave Lee of the OPP.
Three of the 20 cars carrying the acid were punctured, Lee said.
Eric Lebreton, an emergency response adviser with Transport Canada, said sulphuric acid on its own is highly corrosive but not volatile.
“If it’s just the sulphuric acid, as long as they don’t step in it they’re not going to have very many problems.”
However, if sulphuric acid mixes with water, it will heat up, sputter and vapourize, he said.
“It’s going to boil like crazy. You get more fumes and so on.”
Cars containing ethylene oxide — a flammable and toxic compound — were hitched to the front of the train but were not among those that derailed, Lebreton said.
Gamebridge is about 30 kilometres southeast of Orillia.