CNN
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Practically a day after a practice carrying a extremely flammable chemical derailed and burst into flames in a small metropolis in southwestern Minnesota, crews have been nonetheless working in a single day to extinguish the flames as officers reassure residents the groundwater and air are protected.
Of the 22 automobiles that derailed in Raymond, Minnesota, Thursday morning, 4 containing ethanol ruptured and caught hearth, the US Environmental Safety Company mentioned. Different automobiles carrying the substance have been additionally vulnerable to releasing the chemical, the EPA mentioned.
Different automobiles that derailed contained corn syrup, the Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Workplace mentioned.
The EPA is on the crash web site and has been monitoring the air for particulate matter and different compounds, noting there hasn’t been extreme affect to the group to date.
“EPA has not discovered any (particulate matter) ranges of concern in the neighborhood and to date, low ranges beneath well being considerations of (unstable natural compounds) have been detected solely instantly downwind of the automobiles in a non-populated space,” the company mentioned Thursday afternoon.
Practice operator BNSF Railway didn’t discover any affect to consuming water, and air monitoring carried out all through the morning hours confirmed no ranges of concern, it mentioned in an announcement Thursday afternoon.
The response to the derailment and hearth included 28 hearth departments, together with a number of volunteer departments who remained on scene late Thursday, the sheriff’s workplace mentioned in a put up on-line. No accidents have been reported.
BNSF crews are additionally working to clear the scene, the sheriff’s workplace mentioned, noting they’d begun to take away rail automobiles to allow them to higher entry these with “energetic flames.”
A group from the Nationwide Transportation Security Board was dispatched to the crash web site to analyze, the board mentioned.
The derailment occurred round 1 a.m. Thursday in Raymond, a small metropolis of some 800 residents.
Houses inside a half-mile of the derailment have been evacuated, however the order was lifted later within the day, in accordance with the sheriff’s workplace.
The derailment in Minnesota comes lower than two months after a Norfolk Southern practice carrying hazardous chemical substances crashed within the Ohio group of East Palestine.
The blaze burned for days, and poisonous chemical substances have been launched into the air and killed hundreds of fish. Many residents there have complained of well being issues after the derailment and raised considerations concerning the affect of the chemical substances.
In Minnesota, preliminary info from the crash recommended 14 of the practice’s 40 automobiles have been carrying hazardous supplies, “together with ethanol, which was launched – resulting in a fireplace,” US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg informed CNN Thursday morning.
Ethanol can explode when combined with vapor and air. Publicity to ethanol can result in coughing, dizziness, the sensation of burning eyes, drowsiness and unconsciousness.
“Ethanol, like many chemical substances, might be poisonous if inhaled or comes into contact with pores and skin or is ingested. However it requires a sure focus to be a well being hazard,” mentioned Purdue College professor Andrew Whelton, an knowledgeable in environmental chemistry and water high quality.
Ethanol is extremely soluble in water, that means it will likely be comparatively straightforward to dilute.
“Dilution is one strategy to scale back the danger” of well being points from any water that could be contaminated with ethanol, Whelton mentioned.