(The Roanoke Times posted the following article by Jill Hoffman on its website on February 12.)
ROANOKE, Va. — Thirteen Norfolk Southern Railway “hopper” cars carrying grain and limestone and one locomotive derailed and overturned in Pulaski County near the Radford Army Ammunition Plant early Tuesday morning.
Two other locomotives derailed but didn’t overturn in the train of 79 cars traveling from Bluefield, W.Va., to Roanoke, said Susan Bland, spokeswoman for Norfolk Southern.
The train’s conductor and engineer suffered minor injuries and were treated at New River Valley Medical Center and released. Their names were not released.
Norfolk Southern police were investigating the cause of the derailment by early afternoon, but Bland said, “It does not appear that there’s any outside interference.”
One car carrying liquid propane wasn’t involved in the derailment.
“The only environmental issue right now that our folks are working on is the locomotive on its side had a very small diesel spill,” Bland said.
She said environmental contractors were draining the remaining fuel from the locomotive and cleaning any that had leaked into the ground. She said the spill would be reported to the proper federal agencies. The New River was not in any danger of contamination.
Bill Hayden, spokesman for the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, said an inspector from his department reported that the spill was engine oil, not diesel. About 30 to 60 gallons had escaped, but no harm was done.
“It’s pretty much cleaned up, and there’s no environmental impact,” Hayden said.
The derailment occurred about 3:30 a.m. in an area of tracks not far from Belspring Road.
Norfolk Southern officials called Pulaski County emergency personnel shortly after that, according to John Casey, EMS director for Pulaski County Regional Emergency Services.
Casey stood in front of a “road closed” sign about six hours after the derailment and made sure that only public safety vehicles accessed a portion of the road leading to the tracks.
Bland said crews would need to repair and replace the tracks once cars were righted and the area was clear. She wasn’t certain how long the process would take.
“This is going to be a 24-hour operation until we get our lines back running again,” she said.
Bland said 20 trains a day normally run from Bluefield to Roanoke on the damaged line and that those trains have been redirected to other Norfolk Southern tracks.