(The following story by T.J. Aulds appeared on The Daily News website on August 24, 2009.)
ALGOA, Texas — Railroad crews worked through the night Saturday and this morning to clean up a load of plastic pellets that spilled from a Union Pacific train that derailed. Twelve of the train’s 80 cars left the tracks on a section of the line near Algoa about 3:15 p.m. on Saturday.
Union Pacific spokeswoman Raquel Espinoza-Williams said a few of the cars that left the tracks turned over on their sides. Rail crews had successfully moved the derailed cars to the side and expected the line to reopen to rail traffic late Saturday night.
There were no injuries and no release of hazardous material, even though some of the cars being pulled contained dangerous chemicals, Espinoza-Williams said. The mix-load train also was carrying aluminum and rice.
No vehicle traffic that crosses the tracks was hampered she said.
The line that runs parallel to state Highway 6 is owned by Burlington Northern Santa Fe, but the train is owned by Union Pacific. Espinoza-Williams said crews expected to have the plastic pellets cleaned up by this morning.