(The following report appeared on the Brenham Banner-Press website on August 7.)
BRENHAM, Texas — Local officials say they are confident that the cause of a derailment that sent dozens of train cars careening off the track will be made public.
State Rep. Lois W. Kolkhorst and Brenham Mayor Milton Tate spoke Wednesday with a governmental affairs official from Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, requesting more information about the July 28 train derailment.
Kolkhorst arranged the meeting because of what she said was the lack of public information being made available on the incident that derailed 24 railroad cars.
She said that although the accident is still under investigation, she’s hoping to have more answers soon and is encouraged that the public will receive a full explanation.
“I told them we need three things to happen,” said Kolkhorst. “The railroad needs to explain to the public what exactly happened to cause this derailment, what is being done to make sure it doesn’t happen again, and we need to be sure that any local emergency, law enforcement or city expenses are reimbursed.
“Fortunately, the railroad seems very receptive and promised us a full report will be available next week.”
According to Kolkhorst, she and Tate initiated the conversation with the Austin-based governmental affairs office of BNSF after local efforts to receive information had been unsuccessful.
She also hopes to clear up the questions about the content of the train, including the possibility of any hazardous materials.
“Overall, the railroad and our local emergency response teams did a great job in bringing things back to normal as quickly as possible,” Kolkhorst said. “But I told the railroad that they better believe in the power of prayer, because it was a miracle that nobody was injured or killed.
“We need to look at the cause of this accident and make sure the problem is fixed.”
Tate also said he is confident that BNSF’s investigation will find out exactly what happened and thanked Kolkhorst for her efforts.
“We appreciate that Rep. Kolkhorst initiated the conference call to get communications going,” he said. “They apparently do have some conclusions as to what caused the incident, but they’re not finished investigating it yet.
“And like everyone, we want to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.”
Some witnesses have said that tracks at the derailment was “twisting” as trains passed through.
The derailment occurred shortly before 6 p.m. The cars of a 64-car Burlington Northern Santa Fe train went off the tracks near the intersection of North Park Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard.
There were no injuries, which local officials called amazing. One of the cars fell from an overpass onto Martin Luther King Boulevard.