Derailed train in north Louisiana carrying highly toxic substances

Another train derailment this one in North Louisiana. No injuries or deaths have been reported, but 100 homes had to be evacuated because it's leaking highly toxic substances.

www.nola.com...

According to a press release from Jindal's office, three cars were leaking as of late Sunday. One is leaking lubricant oil while a second is leaking Dodecanol, a tasteless, colorless alcohol that can cause mild skin irritation. The third, however, is carrying a highly corrosive substance called caustic soda, or lye.

Two other cars containing a highly toxic, flammable, and carcinogenic substance called vinyl chloride monomer have damage to their exteriors but no signs yet of apparent leaks, the release added. Jindal said these cars cause authorities "the most concern" but they are working to mitigate the problem by damming off the area.

reply to post by goou111


Just like in Close Encounters OF The Third Kind.

reply to post by goou111


Okay what is it with train derailments. This is like the 5th or 6th one in 6 weeks or something. I've never heard about so many derailments so close together in my life.

Someone on ATS should make a thread about all the recent train derailments. Weird stuff.

reply to post by goou111


Actually, it's not North LA...

The article claimed approx. 60 miles west of Baton Rouge and it said it was traveling between New Orleans and Lake Charles so that would be south.

Maybe around the Lafayette area? Or further south, not sure.

We work a lot around that area so am curious as to where exactly.
Hope no one gets sick from it.

--------

Okay, found a source that says Lawtell, LA which is on Hwy. 190

www.foxnews.com...


Yep, we go that way a bunch.
Small town.

Just above I-10 about 20 miles or so.



www.katc.com...
This has a map on the evacuations at this link......

reply to post by snarky412


St. Landry Parish? Where is that?

Vinyl chloride getting loose is bad news. Hopefully those cars will not leak. A bad time waiting to happen.

Vinyl chloride is the organochloride with the formula H2C=CHCl. It is also called vinyl chloride monomer, VCM or chloroethene. This colorless compound is an important industrial chemical chiefly used to produce the polymer polyvinyl chloride (PVC).[1] About 13 billion kilograms are produced annually. Vinyl chloride is a gas with a sweet odor. It is highly toxic, flammable, and carcinogenic.

OSHA lists vinyl chloride as a Class IA Flammable Liquid, with an National Fire Protection Association Flammability Rating of 4. Because of its low boiling point, liquid VCM will undergo flash evaporation (i.e., autorefrigerate) upon its release to atmospheric pressure. The portion vaporized will form a dense cloud (more than twice as heavy as the surrounding air).

The risk of subsequent explosion or fire is significant. According to OSHA, the flash point of vinyl chloride is -78 °C (-108 °F). Its flammable limits in air are: lower 3.6 volume% and upper 33.0 volume%. Fire may release toxic hydrogen chloride (HCl) and carbon monoxide (CO).

en.wikipedia.org...

Flammability 4
Will rapidly or completely vaporize at normal atmospheric pressure and temperature, or is readily dispersed in air and will burn readily (e.g., acetylene, diethylzinc). Includes pyrophoric substances. Flash point below 23°C (73°F)

Originally posted by goou111
reply to post by snarky412

 

St. Landry Parish? Where is that?

Are you familiar with LA any?

If so, it happened around Lawtell which is on Hwy. 190
Which is about 7-10 miles or so west of Opelousas.
And Opelousas is about 20 miles N. of Lafayette.
And Lafayette is about 50 miles west of Baton Rouge on I-20


ETA:

The railroad company doesn't know what caused the derailment. Espinoza said the railroad ties were renewed in 2011 and the track was inspected about three hours before the accident.

Originally posted by Ameilia
reply to post by goou111

 

Okay what is it with train derailments. This is like the 5th or 6th one in 6 weeks or something. I've never heard about so many derailments so close together in my life.

Someone on ATS should make a thread about all the recent train derailments. Weird stuff.

It actually happens more than you would think. Looks like an average of 33 derailments per year.
www.tsb.gc.ca...
ETA: this is just in Canada alone!!

Here is a list of derailments just since 2010. Quite lengthy!!en.wikipedia.org...(2010%E2%80%93present)

Originally posted by thesmokingman

Originally posted by Ameilia
reply to post by goou111

 

Okay what is it with train derailments. This is like the 5th or 6th one in 6 weeks or something. I've never heard about so many derailments so close together in my life.

Someone on ATS should make a thread about all the recent train derailments. Weird stuff.

It actually happens more than you would think. Looks like an average of 33 derailments per year.
www.tsb.gc.ca...
ETA: this is just in Canada alone!!

edit on 5-8-2013 by thesmokingman because: (no reason given)

Hah, okay, I retract my previous statement then. I guess these recent derailments are getting more news coverage, for whatever reason. I'd not have imagined 33 per year in Canada alone, seems like a lot!

Looks like the track runs on the north side of the town. The wind is currently calm. I don't think I would want to be within miles of the area tonight.

Originally posted by Ameilia
Okay what is it with train derailments. This is like the 5th or 6th one in 6 weeks or something. I've never heard about so many derailments so close together in my life.

A bit of a google search reveals two completely contradictory answers.

1. The general comments made on rail message forums is that, like everything else, the rail infrastructure is old, past proper maintenance, and is crumbling to bits before your very eyes. Thus, derailments.

2. Derailments have actually DEcreased recently. Things are safer than ever. This quote from wikipedia sums it up:

In the US, derailments have dropped dramatically since 1980 from over 3,000 annually (1980)
to 1,000 or so in 1986, to about 500 in 2010

reply to post by Ameilia


I have a friend who works for a company that cleans up train derailments.

He makes good money goin all over the country cleaning up train derailments, the railroad doesn't even clean their own derailments

fun fact.. If a train derails with a load of brand new cars, all the cars on that train get buried even if the train car they are on doesn't leave the track

reply to post by goou111

from the link...

Jindal said these cars cause authorities "the most concern" but they are working to mitigate the problem by damming off the area.

I love it when they "press release" statements like that.

"Damming" off the area?

Lol, I can imagine a bunch a guys in hard hats running around going, "Dammit, dammit!"

This is like the 6th train accident in less than a month! What is going on?!

Originally posted by samuel1990
This is like the 6th train accident in less than a month! What is going on?!

They are just reporting on them now,
unlike in the past.

Got to this Wikipedia page and click on any year.

wikipedia / list of rail accidents

For instance in 1993 there were 461 fatalities.


Mike