Latest incident poses no risk to public, officials say – Boston 25 News
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Authorities in Ohio said there was no evidence of a risk to the health of the public after a train out of Norfolk Southern derailed on Saturday.
A shelter-in-place order issued on Saturday was lifted on Sunday, officials said.
Update 5:07pm EST March 5: During a news conference Sunday, Clark County officials described the aftermath of the derailment, WHIO-TV reported.
Springfield Community Fire Chief Dave Nangle told the TV station that power had to be cut to make the area safe for cleaners because high-voltage cables were struck during the derailment.
Springfield hazmat crews and Ohio Environmental Protection Agency officials determined that there was no leak or spillage from the cars.
“After researching, they surveyed the site and found that nothing had been spilled on the ground … very little material on the actual cars themselves that actually dried very quickly,” Matthew Smith, the county hazmat coordinator, told reporters . “At this time there is no spillage onto the ground or into the waterways.”
Ohio EPA director Ann Vogel also said no hazardous materials were found, WHIO reported.
“There have been no releases of chemicals or hazardous materials into the soil, air or water,” Vogel said.
The cause of the derailment is being investigated, said Kraig Barner, spokesman for Norfolk Southern. According to the Washington Post, no crew members or members of the public were injured, Barner said.
Original report: Twenty of the train’s 212 cars derailed near the Clark County Fairgrounds around 4:45 p.m. EST, according to WHIO. According to The Associated Press, the southbound train included four tankers.
Two of the derailed tankers contained residual amounts of diesel exhaust fluid, said Springfield Community Fire Chief Dave Nangle. The other two tankers were filled with polyacrylamide water solution, he said, according to CNN.
After the derailment, residents living less than 300 meters from the train tracks were asked to protect themselves on the spot. On Sunday, officials said the train was carrying no hazardous materials and there was “no evidence of injury or public health risk at this time,” according to the AP.
“There are no hazardous materials involved,” a Norfolk Southern spokesman said Saturday, according to CNN.
When the train derailed Saturday, Springfield Township Fire, Springfield Fire and Rescue, Clark County Sheriff’s Office, Springfield Police, Ohio State Highway Patrol, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Ohio Department of Public Safety, Ohio Department of Transportation, Ohio Edison and Ohio were all present The emergency management agency all responded to the area, WHO reported.
It was the second time in a month that a train from Norfolk Southern had derailed.
[ Residents asked to shelter in place near train derailment in Clark County, Ohio ]
On February 3, a Norfolk Southern Railway train carrying toxic chemicals derailed near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border just before 9 p.m. EST. Officials said 38 cars derailed and 12 others were damaged by fire.
In its initial report, the National Transportation Safety Board said the cars, which contained hazardous materials, ignited, causing 12 other cars to catch fire. Up to 2,000 residents were evacuated from the area when officials initially responded to the incident.
On February 23, Jennifer Homendy, director of the NTSB, said the train derailment was “100% preventable.”
“We call things accidents — there are no accidents,” Homendy said. “Every single event we investigate is preventable.”