© Reuters. Drone footage shows a freight train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, USA, on February 6, 2023 in this screenshot obtained from video released by the NTSB. NTSBGov/Handout via REUTERS
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By Kanishka Singh and Steve Gorman
(Reuters) – Nearly 2,000 eastern Ohioans were still under evacuation orders on Monday when rail crews drained and burned a toxic chemical from five tank cars of a freight train that derailed in a fire three days earlier, authorities said.
The release of pressurized vinyl chloride, a highly flammable and carcinogenic gas, began with a single explosion, as anticipated, followed by steady burning of the remaining cargo, said Sandy Mackey, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Emergency Management Agency.
“That controlled release was the only explosion,” he told Reuters by telephone. “It went as planned. It appeared to be a successful incident.”
No injuries were reported, either from Monday’s operation or from the Friday night accident, authorities said.
On Monday, live video showed a towering column of thick, black smoke billowing from the crash site in East Palestine, Ohio, a city near the Pennsylvania border northwest of Pittsburgh.
The train, operated by norfolk south (NYSE:) The railroad, consisting of three locomotives and 150 freight cars, was en route from Illinois to Pennsylvania when it derailed shortly before 9 p.m.
About 50 cars went off the tracks, 20 of which were carrying hazardous materials, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
Public safety concerns deepened after the railroad said pressure relief devices on some tankers had stopped working on Sunday, which the company said could “result in catastrophic failure.”
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said in a statement that the chemical contents of the five railcars in question were “unstable and could potentially explode, causing a deadly outpouring of shrapnel and toxic gases.”
Working with state and local emergency officials, Norfolk Southern said Monday it had devised a plan to manually ventilate the cars, allowing the contents to “drain in a controlled manner” under the supervision of “experts and first responders.”
As part of the plan, DeWine and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro ordered evacuations Monday to be expanded to include all homes within 1 to 2 miles of the derailment site on both sides of the state line.
Peggy Clark, a spokeswoman for the Columbiana County Emergency Management Agency, said the mandatory evacuation covered about 1,900 people on the Ohio side alone.
DeWine’s office warned that vapors released into the air from the ventilation operation could be deadly if inhaled, as well as pose the risk of skin burns and severe lung damage.
Vinyl chloride is a colorless, industrially produced gas that burns easily and is used primarily in the manufacture of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe and other products, according to the National Cancer Institute. It is also a byproduct of cigarette smoke.
The precise means by which the crews vented the gas was not explained. But the railway said workers had prepared drainage pits and embankments, apparently to contain the tailings of the exhaust. State environmental officials monitored air quality, he said.
Nearly two hours after the operation began, the company said the “controlled breach” had been “successfully completed.”
The NTSB was investigating the cause of the derailment, but board member Michael Graham said Sunday that video footage of the crash pointed to possible “mechanical problems with one of the railcar’s axles.”
