California
Another Norfolk Southern freight train just derailed in Ohio. Does the railroad company operate in California?
On Saturday, one other Norfolk Southern freight prepare derailed in Ohio. In a daunting echo of final month’s East Palestine catastrophe, native residents have been informed to shelter in place whereas hazmat crews arrived. Finally, the freight operator stated, no hazardous supplies have been “concerned” within the accident.
Two derailments in a single state in 30 days, together with one full-on environmental catastrophe, is important. May the identical factor occur in California?
Norfolk Southern doesn’t even have trains in California. It operates in 22 states, from the Midwest to the japanese seaboard, plus Washington D.C.
However loads of rail disasters have occurred in California.
Final yr, the state recorded 112 prepare accidents, the third-most within the nation, trailing solely Illinois and Texas, in keeping with the Federal Railroad Administration’s Workplace of Security Evaluation. It’s unclear whether or not that tally contains native trains comparable to BART and Muni.
The final derailment that resulted in a headline-grabbing environmental catastrophe occurred in California in 1991, when a Southern Pacific prepare was concerned in an accident that led to the spill of over 19,000 gallons of the herbicide metam sodium, in keeping with the California Division of Fish and Wildlife.
A tank automotive fell into the Sacramento River, and the chemical impacts prolonged 20 miles from the spill web site to Lake Shasta. The accident left over one million fish and tens of hundreds of crayfish and amphibians lifeless.
May a serious chemical spill happen within the Bay Space?
Adam Springer, an assistant director of Contra Costa County’s HazMat workforce, informed the San Jose Mercury Information that hazardous chemical substances are “continuously” on trains going by means of the county, together with flammable gasses, sulfuric acid, alcohols and anhydrous ammonia.
One challenge, he informed the paper, is tanker vehicles which are overfilled: They launch chemical substances by means of strain valves after the liquid contained in the vehicles expands in warmth.
The largest freight firms in California, Union Pacific and BNSF, have had some current derailments, although the results haven’t been dire. Within the early hours of the morning on February 20, 4 vehicles on a Union Pacific prepare derailed in Stanislaus County, in keeping with CBS Information 13 in Sacramento. No accidents have been reported and no hazmat response was wanted.
A BNSF prepare in Tehachapi derailed Jan. 21, however there have been no spills or accidents, in keeping with the Bakersfield Californian.
Attain Jordan Parker: jordan.parker@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @jparkerwrites