(The Southern Illinoisan posted the following story by Jim Muir on its website on February 9.)
TAMAROA, Ill. — A Canadian National train transporting hazardous chemicals derailed near Tamaroa Sunday morning, spewing toxic vapor into the air and forcing the evacuation of approximately 1,000 residents in and around this Perry County community.
Perry County Sheriff Keith Kellerman said evacuation procedures were implemented at 9 a.m., when 16 tanker cars — part of a 100-plus car train — derailed in the center of the community. Kellerman said the derailment resulted in several overturned tanker cars, each carrying more than 25,000 gallons of chemicals. Some of the cars caught fire.
“We are dealing with a chemical spill of several hundred thousand gallons,” said David Searby, head of Perry County Emergency Management Services. “Overturned cars, damaged cars that are not leaking at this time, cars that were part of the fire. We have many upright and overturned rail cars that still contain these chemicals.”
Kellerman said the pressurized railroad cars contained four hazardous chemicals: vinyl chloride, formaldehyde, methanol, and hydrochloric acid. Kellerman confirmed that at least two, and possibly more, of the tanker cars ruptured after overturning.
“We tried to get close enough to identify what chemicals we were dealing with,” Kellerman said. “Several of the cars that did not overturn were severely damaged, some had the axles torn out from underneath them.”
The exact location of the derailment, Kellerman said, is approximately one-eighth mile from U.S. 51 immediately east of Casey’s General Store in Tamaroa.
“When we first arrived we saw fumes coming out of the cars and several fires that were burning near the cars. Some of the cars remain on fire and right now we do not have the ability to get close enough to the scene without risking injury to firefighters,” Kellerman said. “We immediately began evacuation procedures at that point, beginning with the residents closest to the derailment and then expanding out in all directions.”
Tamaroa village president William Place lives near the site and was an eyewitness to the derailment.
“I don’t know how else to describe it other than to say I saw huge railroad cars leaving the track at a high rate of speed,” Place said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Place said the initial fire was fed my methanol, but has decreased throughout the day.
“The fire is now primarily out,” said Place. “The other chemicals were not involved in the fire and we’re hoping that there will be no involvement of those other materials.”
All residents within a one-mile radius of the site were evacuated. Later the evacuation area was expanded to a three-mile radius, Searby said.
“There was a lot of damage,” he added. “I would imagine that it will take several days to get this cleaned up.”
One Tamaroa resident, who asked that her name not be used, lives less than half a block from the derailment.
“There was a tremendous vapor cloud of chemicals after the derailment,” she said. “I saw vehicles actually driving through the vapor cloud. I’m surprised that we didn’t have some injuries, because there was people right there in the vicinity when it happened. As soon as I saw what happened I started running down the street and knocking on my neighbors’ doors to tell people to get out of the area.”
Another resident who lives half a block from the site said he heard the derailment.
“I heard something that sounded louder than usual and I looked that way and say a ball of fire shoot in the sky,” Greg Roberts said. “Some of the trees near the derailment were on fire. I could hear a hissing sound. I guess it was the chemicals venting out of the railroad cars.”
Emergency responders, braving below-freezing temperatures and falling snow, converged on the community of 800 residents shortly after the derailment and began the task of sealing off all roads and re-routing all traffic away from the community.
Shortly after 11 a.m. Sunday, workers were able to uncouple the rail cars near the derailment and approximately 50 cars were pulled away from the wreckage to the south. A short time later a locomotive was brought in from the north and another large segment of rail cars was removed.
Kellerman said Canadian National Railroad, which is based in Chicago, had a private agency, Hulcher Environmental Services, spearhead the cleanup. Hulcher representatives were on-site Sunday afternoon evaluating the situation, Searby said. He said a determination will be made this morning as to whether or not the evacuation can be lifted, allowing residents to return home.
“Hulcher representatives will be evaluating all night and the recovery effort and stabilization effort will begin (this morning),” Searby said.
During a press conference Sunday evening, Jim Watts, a representative with Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, read a statement from Gov. Rod Blagojevich stating that all state agencies will offer full assistance to Perry County officials during the cleanup effort.
Chris Cahnovski, of the regional IEPA office in Collinsville, said air monitoring near the site began Sunday afternoon that showed no sign of hydrochloric acid within 125 yards.
“We will be monitoring for any environmental impact concerning all these chemicals,” Cahnovski said. “Once the cars have been moved we will insure all the soil and ground water has been tested and treated if necessary.”
Authorities would not speculate on the cause of the derailment or how long the cleanup will take.