(The following article by Christina Knauss and Adam Beam was posted on the State website on June 2.)
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Dozens of people were evacuated and others were told to remain indoors late Thursday night after about 40 gallons of hydrochloric acid leaked from the top of a Norfolk Southern rail car within a mile of Williams-Brice Stadium.
No one was injured.
Someone reported the leak from a tanker sitting on the tracks in the Norfolk Southern rail yard at about 8:45 p.m., officials said.
Two tankers were connected to an engine and a boxcar. It was unclear which tanker was leaking, how long the train had been sitting, where it was going or where it had been, officials said.
Early this morning, officials were awaiting an environmental cleanup crew contracted by Norfolk Southern to arrive from Charlotte. The crew would work under the supervision of the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.
DHEC spokesman Thom Berry said fume tests showed the concentration of hydrochloric acid in the air was below detectable levels. “The humidity is preventing the acid from vaporizing.”
Columbia Fire Chief Aubrey Jenkins said the air quality about 100 feet from the leak was good.
Hydrochloric acid can cause respiratory problems and burns if people come in contact with the substance.
Officials began going door-to-door about 11 p.m. to encourage people living along Andrews Road from Baylock Road to George Rogers Boulevard to evacuate. Residents were told they could go the Williams-Brice Stadium parking lot.
Berry said officials also were calling residents near Rosewood Drive and South Edisto Drive to tell them to stay in their homes until further notice.
In the parking lot of Williams-Brice, some sat in their cars and others sat in folding chairs, waiting for word on what happened.
Herman Hopkins, 60, heard about the leak on the 10 o’clock news and immediately thought of his mother, who has a heart condition and lives in front of the railroad tracks.
“The first thing that went through my mind was that spill that happened here a few years ago and all of them people died,” Hopkins said. “Just want to make sure she gets safe.”
Robert Knapper had just gotten home when his wife, Barbara, was taking out the trash and saw blue lights flashing. They went to see what was going on and were told they had to evacuate. They grabbed a radio and some cell phones and hit the road.
“It just annoyed me more than anything else,” Robert Knapper said, noting he had to be at work at 6:30 a.m. today.
Sam Bolton, 60, was watching an NBA playoff game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Phoenix Suns when he was told to leave. “Evidently it’s toxic. All I want to do is see my game.”
In January 2005, a freight train wreck and chlorine leak near Graniteville killed nine people, injured 250 and forced 5,400 to evacuate. It was the deadliest train accident involving hazardous material in nearly three decades.