(The following story by John Monk appeared on The State website on November 23, 2009.)
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Authorities are investigating what caused the derailment of eight railroad cars Sunday morning in rural Lexington County, including one tanker car loaded with tens of thousands of gallons of poisonous sulfuric acid.
Two families who live near the sparsely populated derailment site between the towns of Gilbert and Lexington voluntarily evacuated their homes after the 5 a.m. incident.
No injuries were reported.
“We don’t know what caused it,” said Robin Chapman, spokesman for Norfolk Southern, whose trains spilled off the rail near the intersection of Isiah Hall and Hayes Crossing roads in the cold pre-dawn.
Officials said there was no immediate danger from the sulfuric acid because, as of late afternoon Sunday, there had been no leaks from the tank car containing the acid. The corrosive acid can burn skin and eyes. It is used in car batteries and to process ores and make fertilizer.
“Right now, we have what we would call a minor incident,” said S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control spokesman Thom Berry late Sunday afternoon.
If sulfuric acid were to leak, it could give off harmful fumes – fumes that could intensify if mixed with water, Berry said.
A steady rain fell throughout much of Sunday, and the 50 emergency workers on the scene were keeping gas masks handy.
The train had only 10 cars in all, including two locomotives, Chapman said.
The tanker car full of sulfuric acid plunged down a 10-foot embankment and was partially buried in sand, Berry said.
The train was traveling from Linwood, N.C., to Savannah, Ga., when it derailed. The train speed limit where the derailment happened is 45 mph, Chapman said.
Officials from Norfolk Southern, DHEC, the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department and the EPA were on the scene.
Lexington County Maj. George Brothers said train crews, using rail-mounted cranes, worked through the day lifting the fallen cars and putting them back on the tracks.
Crews were working under floodlights after night fell and saving the tanker car for last. Brothers said. He predicted all the cars would be back on the tracks by dawn.
Norfolk Southern, the nation’s fourth-largest railroad with 21,500 miles of track, is headquartered in Norfolk, Va.