Officials plan to lift evacuation in Tenn.
MARYVILLE, Tenn. — Officials say preparations have begun to allow thousands of eastern Tennessee residents to return to their homes after a CSX train car carrying hazardous material derailed and caught fire.
About 5,000 people within a mile-and-a-half radius of the crash site were evacuated, along with several businesses, Thursday morning in Maryville.
City Manager Greg McClain said officials are working on a plan to lift the evacuation.
The concern stemmed from the contents of the car that derailed: liquid acrylonitrile, which officials said is a hazardous material used in multiple industrial processes including making plastics. It’s flammable and it’s dangerous if inhaled. The EPA says some effects of breathing acrylonitrile include headaches, dizziness, irritability and rapid heartbeat.
Fifty-two people were treated at Blount Memorial Hospital in Maryville, and 25 were admitted, hospital spokesman Josh West said. None had life-threatening injuries, but they were experiencing respiratory issues, skin irritation and nausea, West said.
Ten first responders were treated at the hospital after breathing fumes.
Despite the inconvenience and the uncertainty about when they could go home, some of the residents who were evacuated took the disruption to their lives in stride.
“It really hasn’t been that bad,” said John Trull, 43, an aircraft mechanic from Maryville who was having dinner with his wife in the Heritage High School cafeteria Thursday evening.
Trull and his wife booked their own hotel room before learning CSX was providing vouchers. Later they were told CSX will reimburse them. Other evacuated residents were pleasantly surprised by hotel vouchers and an abundance of food.
Craig Camuso, CSX regional vice president for state government affairs, said authorities didn’t know how much acrylonitrile was spewing out and burning, or how much remained in the tank. A byproduct of burning acrylonitrile is cyanide, and there were concerns that some would be contained in the fumes, Blount County Mayor Ed Mitchell said.
Smoke had stopped rising from the site by 6 p.m. Thursday, Mitchell said. Firefighters spent the day hosing down neighboring rail cars to keep them cool while also trying to move them away from the flames.
Mitchell asked residents near the derailment site not to drink well water for now; city officials said there was no indication yet whether well water was affected by the accident. The mayor said CSX would provide bottled water to residents.
The Federal Railroad Administration said it had investigators and hazmat inspectors at the scene and would investigate the cause once it was safe to do so.
