(The following story by Graham Kislingbury appeared on the Albany Democrat-Herald website on March 23.)
MILLERSBURG, Ore. — Three boxcars and a tanker car were being put back on the track this morning after a derailment Tuesday on the Georgia-Pacific resin plant siding.
No one was injured and there were no chemical leaks or hazards, Union Pacific spokesman James Barnes said from the company’s office in Omaha. The tanker car contained methanol. Barnes did not know what was in the boxcars.
Old Salem Road was closed for a short time, and Albany firefighters were on the scene.
State and federal regulatory officials also were notified, Barnes said.
The derailed cars were part of a 22-car train that had dropped off the tanker car at the G-P plant.
“It was headed north, and a switch was not thrown, and it headed back into our place. That’s our understanding,” said Tom Moehl, G-P plant manager. “The rails were torn up — nothing significant.”
The methanol delivered to the plant will go into the production of formaldehyde, which is used in the manufacture of resin, Moehl said.
The resin is a glue used in making particleboard and plywood.
The G-P plant, at 2190 Old Salem Road S.E., produces about 300 million pounds of resin annually, Moehl said. It supplies the neighboring Weyerhaeuser Duraflake division and other mid-valley mills.
The G-P plant has 50 employees.