(The following article by Kay Luna was posted on the Quad City Times website on June 2.)
CLINTON, Iowa — Two railroad lines were shut down more than two hours this morning in Clinton, after a Union Pacific Railroad car appeared to be leaking extremely low-level radioactive material.
Railroad and environmental officials said no one was in danger at any time, and no one was evacuated during the incident on the Union Pacific tracks in the 1300 block of Liberty Avenue.
Police tape blocked the area about 7 a.m. while testing was done. Results showed very little — if any – radiation in the “dirty dirt,” or contaminated dirt, getting hauled through Clinton, said Wally Henry of the Clinton County Emergency Management office.
“The alpha particles are so low, you can block them with a piece of paper,” Henry said. “It only goes a foot or so and falls to the ground.”
Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis said the dirt was on its way to Utah for disposal, and most likely came from an industrial clean-up site.
Usually, this type of dirt carries radioactivity so low that the car is not required to carry a warning sign. For example, a person would have to get buried up to his neck in the material for a year to get the same dosage as one chest x-ray, he said.
However, train officials contacted authorities about the possible environmental concern after noticing the train’s wheels were running hot, and water running from a hopper car, the county’s emergency management coordinator said.
Clinton firefighters and a member of Davenport’s hazardous materials team were called to the scene, and state emergency management officials were notified. Officials at the Exelon Nuclear power plant in Cordova, Ill., also were notified, Henry said.
Meanwhile, train traffic was stopped temporarily on the Union Pacific and Iowa, Chicago & Eastern Railroad lines through Clinton, Fire Chief Mark Regenwether said.
The fire chief said the open hopper car must have traveled through rain, causing the fluid to leak out during its stop in Clinton. The train was released about 9:30 a.m. to continue its travels.