Pro IQRA News Updates.
Authorities in Ohio say there is no indication of any public health risk from the derailment of a Norfolk Southern freight train between Dayton and Columbus, the second derailment of a company train in the state in a month.
Norfolk Southern and Clark County officials say 28 of the train’s 212 southbound cars, including four empty carriers, derailed around 4:45 p.m. Saturday in the town of Springfield near the county business park and fairgrounds. Springfield is located about 46 miles (74 km) west of the state capital, Columbus.
As a precaution, residents living within 1,000 feet were told to take cover and responding firefighters deployed a county protection team as a precaution, but officials early Sunday said there was “no indication of any injuries or public health risk at this time.” “.
A crew from Norfolk Southern, the Hazmat team and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency “independently examined the crash site and ensured there was no evidence of a spill at the site,” officials said.
Officials confirmed Sunday afternoon that there were no hazardous materials in the derailment.
However, Norfolk Southern general manager Craig Barner said two other cars on the train going from Bellevue, Ohio, to Birmingham, Alabama, were carrying liquid propane, and two more were carrying ethanol. He said the rest of the train consisted of mixed cargo, such as steel and finished cars.
“A lot of the derailed cars were empty trucks,” Barner said.
Officials said two of the four empty derailed tank cars previously carried diesel exhaust fluid while the other two cars contained residual amounts of a water solution of polyacrylamide, which Barner said is a commonly used additive in wastewater treatment.
County officials say environmental officials have confirmed that the derailment is not near a protected water source, meaning there is no danger to public water systems or private wells. Officials said the shelter-in-place order affected only four or five homes.
He said there were no reports of injuries among the public or the two-person train crew. Barner said the cause of the derailment is under investigation and the findings will be handed over to the Federal Railroad Administration.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said late Saturday night that President Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg had contacted him “to offer help from the federal government.”
On February 3, a Norfolk Southern freight train in East Palestine, in northeastern Ohio near Pennsylvania, derailed and burned several of the train’s cars carrying hazardous materials.
Although no one was injured, neighboring neighborhoods in both states were endangered. The accident led to the evacuation of about half of the town’s population of about 5,000, an ongoing multi-government emergency response and persistent fears among villagers about the long-term health effects.
New drone video from the East Palestine, Ohio train crash site shows the progress of the cleanup operation after the derailment two weeks ago today
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