A tanker leaking sulfuric acid after a Union Pacific derailment in Northfield early Monday is "well-contained" and does not pose an immediate hazard to the public, City Administrator Al Roder said.
Northfield: Derailed tanker car leaking sulfuric acid is 'well-contained'
April 1, 2008 at 4:31AM
Twenty-eight of 104 cars on the train left the track about 2 a.m., jackknifing or falling on their sides between a residential neighborhood and Hwy. 3 near a Dairy Queen in Northfield.
No homes were evacuated and no injuries were reported, but the underside of one car was leaking about a gallon of sulfuric acid a minute, Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis said.
The cause of the derailment of the train bound from St. Paul to North Platte, Neb., is under investigation.
Emergency crews were pouring lime on the spilled acid to neutralize it and building an earthen dam to contain it. An environmental crew was also monitoring air quality and testing the soil. Workers planned to pump out the tanker and remove the sulfuric acid in trucks, a process that should continue through this afternoon, Davis said.
The railroad doesn't know how much sulfuric acid spilled or exactly how much the tanker contained, but Roder said the tanker held up to 14,000 gallons. A second derailed car holding sulfuric acid was not leaking, Davis said.
Direct contact with the corrosive substance can burn the skin, and breathing sulfuric acid vapors can irritate the eyes and respiratory tract. Water also can spread and react with sulfuric acid, a concern with the snowfall Monday. Crews had built a tarp lean-to over the leaking car to keep moisture out.
Crews were primarily concerned about keeping people away from the site, Davis said.
SARAH LEMAGIE
