Potential Disaster County plans for train derailments
Train derailments may be a rare occurrence, but they have the potential to be a large-scale disaster.
A Canadian National Railway Co. train went off the tracks in Center Township last month. The accident was relatively minor with no injuries reported and no hazardous materials spilled.
But the accident coincided with a pair of fiery derailments around the country within the past several weeks.
Most recently a BNSF Railway train derailed Thursday afternoon in Illinois.
While no injuries were reported in that accident, 21 of the train's 105 tank cars continued to burn Friday.
Last month a train in West Virginia carrying 3 million gallons of North Dakota crude oil derailed, shooting fireballs into the sky, leaking oil into a waterway and burning down a house. The home's owner was treated for smoke inhalation, but no one else was injured.
Patrick Waldron, a spokesman with the Canadian National Railway Co., said some iron ore spilled during the accident in Center Township, which occurred the night of Feb. 25.
Waldron said that 27 railcars derailed from the 71-car train on tracks that run underneath Route 308 and adjacent to Stony Run.
The train was traveling south from Conneaut, Ohio, to Pittsburgh.
While there were no safety concerns with the derailment in Center Township, emergency officials around the county said its something that is planned for.
“The problems with trains is they typically have a mixed load,” said Steve Bicehouse, director of Butler County Emergency Services. “So it's not always immediately known whether it has any hazardous materials or not.”
Bicehouse said emergency crews had little to do with the accident in Center Township.
“There were no injuries reported,” he said. “We had very limited information and were not involved in the cleanup. And they didn't keep us up to date on it.”
Butler County has been home to hazardous train accidents in the past, but not recently, Bicehouse said.“I think it was something that occurred more back when trains were more prevalent,” he said.Next month will mark the 25th anniversary of a detrainment in Craigsville, near Worthington, Armstrong County.A train carrying a caustic chemical and crude oil derailed and exploded on April 22, 1990, spewing about 100,000 gallons of oil and releasing a chemical cloud that forced 200 people to evacuate the area.The toxic chemicals spilled into the Buffalo Creek as the train caught fire, which at its peak had flames shooting several hundred feet high and could be seen 30 miles away.Francis “Kip” Deleonibus, director of the Public Safety Training Facility at Butler County Community College, said that incident sparked an interest in train safety in Butler County.“Back then leaders got the idea that additional training resources was needed,” Deleonibus said.BC3's public safety training facility opened in 2001 and features a fixed rail car used for hazardous materials training.Various fire departments use the car throughout the year, Deleonibus said, including those in surrounding counties.The car has propane piped through it, allowing different sections to be ignited for different training.“We can isolate certain areas,” Deleonibus said.Propane is managed by a control station away from the car. The gas is used because it is clean burning.Deleonibus said the car is used a couple times per month during the warmer months to allow for hazardous materials training.“As with any training, we can't just go out and light a fire or create a disaster,” he said.Butler Fire Chief Nick Ban many of this department's firefighters are instructors at the training facility.He said the city department, like volunteer departments, undergoes hazardous materials training on an annual basis.Ban said while derailments seldom happen, it's important to be ready for them.“Anytime there is a train derailment, that's a large scale event,” he said.Ban said railroad companies have emergency response teams that are called out to handle train accidents like derailments.“Quite frankly the city or the county just doesn't have a crane to handle a rail car,” he said.The Butler County Hazmat team also would respond to any dangerous derailment.Ban said a derailment could pose serious problems on populated areas, like Butler.“Obviously we don't want a cloud of gas going over the city,” he said.Ban said the common proximity rail lines have to rivers and creeks adds additional concerns.“Rail lines tend to follow water,” Ban said. “There's a definite environmental hazard risk there.”The possibility of what chemicals trains could be hauling is seemingly endless, Bicehouse said.“There are thousands of them,” he said. “There are corrosives, poisons — everything under the sun.”However, most are not regularly shipped through Butler County.Coal and lumber are the main loads in the county, Bicehouse said.There are three rail lines through the county, according to the state Department of Transportation.Canadian National and the Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad, now owned by Genesee & Wyoming Inc., have rail lines cutting across the county, while CSX Transportation has a line running through the Southwestern corner of the county.But the emergence of the natural gas industry in the county has had an effect on hazardous materials being shipped through the county.“Compressed gas is very flammable,” Bicehouse said. “And it's also expensive to move. It seems companies are finding its safer and cheaper to transport it by train rather than trucks.”Ban agreed that it is hard to say what is passing through the county on a given day.“A lot of toxic chemicals are making their way up to the Petroleum Valley,” he said.Deleonibus said there are numerous safety protocols on trains so emergency responders know what chemicals are on board. Each train has a manifest on board detailing what cars have what materials.“The shape of the car also can tell you what might be in it,” Deleonibus said. “Cars containing compressed gas are typically shaped differently.”While derailments can create major instances, Ban said a far more frequent occurrence with trains is collisions with other vehicles or pedestrians.“The national statistics are staggering,” he said.In 2013 there were more than 2,000 train collisions with more than 250 deaths, Ban said.A man was fatally struck by a train in Butler in September 2013.Ban said the size and force of trains makes it impossible for them to stop quickly.“It's generally a catastrophic event,” he said.Ban said residents can stay safe from trains by staying off the tracks and being mindful of the safety signals in place.“Certainly people should obey any safety signal,” he said. “Don't try to beat the gate or go around it.”
