(The following article by Jessie Halladay and Nancy C. Rodriguez was posted on the Courier-Journal website on January 18.)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Federal investigators focused yesterday on equipment and track conditions as the possible cause of Tuesday’s massive Bullitt County train derailment, while CSX Railroad workers labored to reopen the line within a few days.
Residents within a mile of the crash site still have no idea when they may return to their homes, or what they will find once they get there.
The preliminary investigation into the fiery wreck that billowed plumes of toxic smoke showed no mishandling of the freight train by the Louisville-based, two-man crew, said Mark Rosenker, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.
The train’s recorder corroborated the crew’s statements and indicated no error on their part, he said.
Still, Rosenker said, the investigation has ruled out nothing as a cause. Agents today will begin reconstructing the tracks in an adjacent field, “to see what happened. … We’re examining every, I mean every, inch of that track.”
They’re also looking at the northern end of the wreck, where four or five cars plowed into a circle and burned so hot that investigators couldn’t inspect it before today.
The section of line where the wreck occurred should be cleared within a few days and ready to reopen, although wreckage will continue to litter the site for weeks, Vice President Cindy Sanborn said. “Closing these tracks is like closing Interstate 65 for us.”
CSX must get the line inspected by the Federal Railroad Administration before it can be used, Rosenker said.
Railroad officials estimate more than $1 million in equipment and track damage from the massive derailment whose explosion was caught on a hospital video turned over to NTSB investigators.
The toxic clouds that spewed from the burning cars prompted 31 people to seek treatment and forced the evacuation of 500 people, officials said.
A steady stream of people affected by the evacuation visited the CSX outreach office at the Hearthstone Inn & Suites at 191 Brenton Way to ask for assistance.
As of yesterday afternoon, CSX had issued checks to about 60 people to help cover expenses such as housing, clothing or food, company spokesman Gary Sease said.
Brenda Burden, whose house is about 200 yards from the wreck, said she, her husband and their three children are doing the best they can.
They have been living at the Hearthstone Inn & Suites and have spent the past couple days shopping for clothes and other necessities.
“It’s been very stressful,” said Burden, who added that she worries about how long they will be out of their home and what contamination might be there when they return.
“It’s just a long process,” she said. “I feel like it’s going to all turn out OK, but getting through it is tough.”
Other evacuees sought legal action yesterday when a Bowling Green lawyer filed a class-action lawsuit in federal court seeking damages in excess of $5 million.
Sease said evacuated residents who left behind pets or livestock are being helped to either retrieve them or make plans to have them fed.
“We are concerned about the welfare of the animals in the area,” Sease said.
Nearby Brooks Elementary School will remain closed today, with no bus service on Ky. 1020 between Preston Highway and Brooks Hill Road. Teachers, but not students, will report to Hebron Middle School, school officials said.
Yesterday afternoon, a fire that had burned for three days in a derailed train car carrying cyclohexane finally was extinguished. Emergency workers were continuing to monitor hot spots from carloads of paper that burned into the night, Sease said.
Workers yesterday had managed to get rid of all but the last dregs of 90,000 gallons of volatile butadiene they had drained from three rail cars and burned in a pit.
No other cars posed a chemical threat, officials said. Although at least one car still contained chemicals, it can be hauled away safely, they said.
Already, 59 of the train’s 80 cars have been towed, including seven of the 25 that derailed.
State and federal environmental officials said they are monitoring the surrounding area, and as of yesterday had no indication of any air contamination. Water monitoring also was under way.
Environmental officials said they will continue to monitor air and water quality, and will expand their sampling as the cleanup continues and more areas become accessible.
While the derailment was a catastrophic event for Bullitt County, it was not as bad as it could have been, Judge-Executive Melanie Roberts said.
“We had no loss of life and no serious injuries, and that makes me a very happy judge,” she said, commending local, state and federal agencies for their response and ongoing efforts. “We are going downhill from here.”