(The following article by Tony Cook was posted on the Cincinnati Post website on October 6.)
CINCINNATI, Ohio — The railcar chemical leak that caused the evacuation of more than 800 residents in Cincinnati’s East End prompted a safety advisory from the Federal Railroad Administration Wednesday to railroads and others that deal with hazardous materials.
“FRA’s investigation into the styrene incident in Cincinnati is not yet complete, but the fact that a car of time-sensitive material, carrying an inhibitor, was apparently allowed to languish on the same railroad for seven months is not acceptable,” Daniel Smith, the agency’s associate administrator for safety, said in the advisory.
The advisory recommends railroads, shippers and receivers of time-sensitive materials follow new industry standards that went into effect Sept. 1, just days after the styrene leak began in Linwood near Lunken Airport, threatening to cause a large explosion.
The railroad administration’s preliminary investigation indicates the leak resulted from the expiration of an inhibitor that was supposed to stabilize the flammable styrene in the railcar. After several months, it degrades to the point it is no longer effective.
The updated standards put the responsibility for monitoring any time-sensitive chemical shipments and reacting to any shipment delays on the railroad. The standard includes a list of 20- and 30-day time-sensitive products, which include styrene.
The FRA also recommended that shippers and receivers monitor the materials and communicate better among each other.
“Anyone involved in shipping hazardous materials must take the necessary steps to ensure that time-sensitive products are properly tracked from origin to destination,” said FRA Administrator Joseph Boardman in a statement. “There is no margin of error when it comes to shipping hazardous materials. Everyone involved in the process has to get it right.”
Because of a data entry error at Indiana & Ohio Railroad, Queen City Terminals – the railcar’s intended destination – was not informed of the incoming shipment, according to documents released by the railroad.
Queen City Terminals, however, received a bill from the shipper and informed the railroad about the shipment twice, according to a spokesman for Queen City’s parent company. The railroad did not respond, the spokesman said.