(The following article by Rick Brundrett was posted on the State website on June 3.)
COLUMBIA, S.C. — An overloaded rail car caused the acid leak that led to the evacuation of more than two dozen residents Thursday night, officials said.
Pressure inside the 20,000-gallon tanker car parked in the rail yard off Andrews Road forced hydrochloric acid out of a pressure release valve on top of the car, said Robin Chapman, spokesman for Norfolk Southern, which owns the tracks.
“The systems on the car didn’t do what they are supposed to do,” Chapman said.
About four gallons of hydrochloric acid, which can cause burns and respiratory problems, leaked from the car, Chapman said.
Thom Berry, spokesman for the state Department of Health and Environmental Control, said a contractor hired by the railroad to clean up the leak reported no more than five to 10 gallons leaked.
Initial reports put the leak at about 40 gallons.
Neither Chapman nor local officials knew how much acid was in the tanker. An estimated 1,000 to 1,500 gallons of the acid were transferred Friday morning to a truck to relieve pressure inside the tanker car, he said.
A Norfolk Southern train had transported the tanker from Atlanta to the Columbia yard, where it was transferred to a CSX train. The chemicals were heading to the Nucor Corp. steel plant in Berkeley County.
Chapman declined to identify the chemical shipper in Atlanta, saying it was “proprietary” information. The tanker car was owned or leased by the shipper.
Chapman said it was “very unusual” for a chemical tanker car to be overloaded.
Berry said there wasn’t any immediate danger to the public, and there were no reported injuries. He said the Columbia Fire Department made a “wise decision” in calling for a voluntary evacuation as a precaution.
Residents along Andrews Road were asked to evacuate to the Williams-Brice Stadium parking lot.
Deputy Fire Chief Aubrey Jenkins said a railroad worker reported the leak to the fire department, which was dispatched about 8:45 p.m. About 25 firefighters responded to the scene, including four from the hazmat unit.
The evacuation started around 9:30 p.m., though the first evacuees didn’t show up at Williams-Brice until about 10 p.m. In a prepared statement, the American Red Cross said 26 evacuees were assisted at the stadium.
Richland County Sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Chris Cowan said deputies, as well as officers from Columbia police and USC campus police, assisted in the evacuation.
Officers asked other residents in the Rosewood area to stay in their homes while authorities assessed the leak. Jenkins said he contacted local media to alert residents.
Some residents had initial fears of a repeat of last year’s incident in Graniteville. Nine people died, several hundred were injured and 5,400 were evacuated after a collision of two Norfolk Southern trains that resulted in the release of deadly chlorine.
Thursday’s incident was the second known chemical leak this year at a local rail yard. In February, alkyl phenols, which are used in disinfectants and pharmaceuticals, leaked from a rail car in Cayce as crews were hooking up cars carrying the powdery substance.
There were no reported injuries, and no homes or businesses were evacuated in that incident.