(The Associated Press circulated the following on January 7.)
HARVARD, Ill. — Muddy conditions at the site of a train derailment in northern Illinois are keeping Union Pacific crews from beginning clean up work.
Railroad spokesman Mark Davis says crews should be able to start soon. Police in McHenry County say as a precaution they’ve evacuated about 500 people from nearby Lawrence.
Davis says the 12 railcars and one locomotive derailed Monday afternoon.
2 of the cars were tankers. 1 of them contained hydraulic oil used as shock fluid. It had been leaking, but Davis now says that leak has stopped. The other tanker was not leaking and contained ethylene oxide, a flammable material widely used to sterilize medical supplies.
Davis says the cause of the accident is under investigation. Police say no injuries were reported.
The train was traveling from North Lake, Illinois, to Janesville, Wisconsin.