Skip to main content /US
CNN.com /US
CNN TV
EDITIONS


Train loaded with chemicals derails

Wreck
An aerial photo shows the damage to the train cars.  


MAGNOLIA, Texas (CNN) -- Twenty cars of an 84-car Burlington Northern Santa Fe train derailed in a wooded area of Montgomery County, Texas, Sunday, leading authorities to ask area residents to evacuate.

The two people aboard the mile-long train en route to Houston were not injured in the 3:40 a.m. (4:40 a.m. EDT) derailment.

Acetic anhydride and 2-ethyl hexyl acrylate -- both of which are respiratory irritants -- were leaking from some of the cars, said Magnolia Fire Chief Michael Clack. Officials determined a car carrying benzene, a carcinogen, was not leaking, he said.

"Right now the railroad company is setting up the operation to vacuum the spilled fluids," said Clack. He expected that to begin by 9 p.m. (10 p.m. ET).

RESOURCES
Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidlines on Acetic Anhydride  
 

Authorities have asked people in about 70 homes and ranches in the area to evacuate.

"It's a big one," said Montgomery County sheriff's spokeswoman Corporal Denise Janeway. "We've got BNSF, Houston hazmat, Montgomery County hazmat, BNSF contractors, the Department of Public Safety and the EPA here."

Cleanup crews were wearing protective clothing, gas masks and carrying oxygen tanks, but temperatures above 90 degrees Fahrenheit made the bulky gear cumbersome. "It's really hot," she said.

There was no immediate indication of what caused the derailment, which did not affect cars in the front or rear of the train. "They've got 20 cars to dig out and the chemicals to deal with before they get to that," she said.

Janeway said the cleanup could take days.

Officials from Burlington Northern Santa Fe were not immediately available for comment.






RELATED STORIES:
RELATED SITES:
• Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway
• Montgomery County, Texas, Government

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.


 Search   

Back to the top