A Norfolk-Southern train derailed early Friday morning near
Gardeau in Norwich Township, dumping about 16,000 gallons of liquid
sodium hydroxide onto the ground and into Portage Run, a branch of
Sinnemahoning Creek.
However, it was the possibility of 90 tons of chlorine leaking
from another tank car that led emergency personnel to temporarily
evacuate people from homes in the area.
“There were 50 people evacuated,” explained Tracy Carl, deputy
director of the McKean County 911 Center and a deputy of the McKean
County Emergency Management Agency. “The Red Cross opened
evacuation shelters at St. Mark’s Church on Fourth Street in
Emporium and the United Methodist Church in Keating Summit.”
“The evacuation is a recommendation, it is not mandatory,” Carl
added. “We have not been made aware of any injuries at all. We have
notified the local hospitals of some of the hazards of burns and
sent them material safety data sheets … ‘heads up’ precautions on
what to look for.”
The chlorine tanker was not breached, and the chemical had not
spilled as of late Friday evening.
“The chlorine tanker has been banged up. It’s lying there on its
side,” said Bruce Manning, deputy director of McKean County EMA,
who called Friday evening to say the evacuated people were
permitted to return to their homes.
“The people on the scene think it’s probably OK,” Manning said
of the tanker. “They think they may be able to pick it up” or even
empty it safely where it is currently.
The immediate risk is with the sodium hydroxide, which is also
know as caustic soda or lye. It can cause severe burns when
contacting tissue or corrosive injury if ingested.
“The concern we have now is the stream is extremely caustic,”
Manning said. “We’re cautioning people to stay away from the stream
– to keep children, pets and animals away from the stream.”
Everything downstream from the accident should be avoided until
it has been deemed safe by the cleanup crews.
“When that stuff (sodium hydroxide) is introduced to water, it
will have a foamy look to it,” Carl said. “Don’t come into contact
with the foam. It could cause a chemical burn.”
According to Rudy Husband, director of public relations for
Norfolk-Southern Railroad, the train was in route from Binghamton,
N.Y., to Harrisburg when it derailed. Norfolk-Southern had a HazMat
team at the site on Friday, and as of late Friday afternoon, had
taken over command of the site from the Star Hose Company of Port
Allegany.
Sixteen cars were still on the tracks following the accident,
according to Bill Gallup of the Norwich Township Volunteer Fire
Department, who had been at the site of the accident. Almost all of
the derailed cars were on their sides and one landed on top of
another, smashing it, Gallup said.
“Besides the tankers, the train also pulled box cars which were
loaded with lumber, paper products and what appeared to be large
blocks of aluminum, and those contents were scattered around the
area,” Gallup added.
Manning said he had spoken to EMA personnel in Cameron County
and learned that the sodium hydroxide had already reached Emporium.
Dams were being built to try to contain it.
It is water soluble, Manning said.
However, the substance is denser than water, and may settle to
the bottom, explained Dr. Francis Mulcahy, associate professor of
chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford.
“It could go into the bottom of holes in the stream and not mix
well with the water,” Mulcahy said.
Manning explained that overflow dams are being built, the sodium
hydroxide will sink and will dissolve into the water and much of
the contaminant will be rinsed away.
Mulcahy explained that, in the immediate future, that much
sodium hydroxide would raise the pH, or acidity, of the stream to
14, making it toxic for fish and wildlife.
“In a couple days, it will be pretty much rinsed out of there,”
Mulcahy said. “That’s a bad thing for the immediate future, but the
stream should recover fairly quickly.”
Specialists have already begun to survey the damage to the fish
and wildlife.
Earlier on Friday, Waterways Conservation Officers Pete Mader of
McKean County and Bill Crisp of Cameron County both responded to
the accident site. “We monitored the chemical spill, gathered
evidence and verified the fish kill,” Mader said late in the
afternoon.
The Portage branch of the Sinnemahoning Creek is a Class A Wild
Brown Trout Stream, the conservation officers said, which means the
water quality is so good on its own that the Fish and Boat
Commission does not stock it.
“The Fish Commission and the (Department of Environmental
Protection) have been out looking at it and will go out again
(today),” Manning said.
Carl said just about every emergency responder crew from
surrounding counties were on the scene Friday. “If you could name
them, they were probably there. The response was tremendous from
every agency. We have people from the state level down to the local
fire departments and (emergency management agencies) on
standby.”
The remote and wooded location of the derailment hampered
efforts at communication, as many emergency responders rely on cell
phone service, which isn’t available there.
“It made the efforts challenging at times,” Carl said.
He also commended the efforts of the McKean County 911
dispatchers, who kept the situation running smoothly despite
communication complications.
“They handled a tremendous amount of traffic and did it very
well,” Carl said. “They kept everyone safe.”
(Era correspondent Fran De Lancey contributed to this
report.)
