(The following article was posted on Memphis television station WPTY’s website on February 9.)
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Thousands of commercial trains pass through Memphis every year. Many are loaded with toxic chemicals, and they’re rolling right through your backyard! Only the rail companies know for sure what’s inside.
Fire department Hazmat Chief Chip Sneed says, “You name it, it comes through Memphis. Memphis being one of the central distribution hubs. We get just about everything you can think of coming through here.”
Hydrochloric acid, chlorine, and acetone are just a few of the highly corrosive or flammable chemicals traveling through the Mid-South every day.
For security reasons, the rail companies don’t like to talk about what hazardous materials are on the trains or how much they’re carrying. A spokeswoman for CSX Railroad would only give us a list of the five most commonly transported chemicals through Memphis.
According to hazardous material data safety sheets, sodium hydroxide is very corrosive and can cause severe burns.
Molten sulfur can also cause burns and areas should be evacuated immediately in the event of a spill.
Liquid petroleum is flammable fuel like the propane used with your backyard grill.
Anhydrous ammonia is also extremely dangerous when it comes in contact with the skin or eyes.
Chlorine can cause serious lung damage if inhaled and could be fatal after just a few deep breaths.
All of these materials travel through your hometown.
“It was a funny odor in the air. It was I guess, chemically, you know, you could smell like a chemical,” says Andrea Bailey.
Bailey has lived in Memphis for 19 years, just a few feet away from a rail yard. She says she recently smelled a strong peculiar odor that gave her a headache.
“Yeah, it’s concerning me. Because I get out the car and I said what is that smell?” Bailey says.
Hazmat crews in Memphis don’t know what’s coming through on trains either until something goes wrong.
Chip Sneed says crews can respond more quickly and effectively to chemical spills than ever before. He says Hazmat training has made significant strides, and he credits the railroad industry for incorporating better design standards for tankers.
There have been proposals in other major cities to reroute freight trains around the city, but the rail companies have resisted because it could cause shipping delays and increase costs. The CSX Railroad says trains have very strict safety requirements and are the safest mode of transporting hazardous materials.
CSX says in 2004 it hauled 513 carloads of hazardous materials, and seven lost some of their contents. That’s a nearly 99% success rate.