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Andrew Burton / Reuters
Derailed freight train cars leak vinyl chloride, a colorless, organic gas with a sweet odor sit semi-submerged in the waters of Mantua Creek after a train crash, in Paulsboro, N.J., Nov. 30.
Residents were asked to stay inside their homes for hours after emergency and hazmat crews responded to a train derailment and hazardous material spill Friday morning in Gloucester County, N.J. More than two dozen people have been transported to a local hospital with respiratory problems after the incident.
Gloucester Office of Emergency Management confirmed that a Conrail train derailed after the bridge it was traveling on collapsed -- for the second time in a little more than three years -- just after 7 a.m. Friday near Commerce Street in Paulsboro, Gloucester County.
Six of the train's cars were dumped into Mantua Creek. Four of the cars contained vinyl chloride, a colorless, organic gas with a sweet odor. One of the train cars was compromised, releasing about 180,000 pounds of the chemical into the creek, according to Conrail spokesperson John Enright.
Vinyl chloride is a colorless flammable gas that is used primarily to make polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes. It's heavier than air and can travel along the ground, but it evaporates quickly.
Acute exposure via inhalation in humans can cause dizziness, drowsiness, headaches, and even a loss of consciousness, and it is reported to be slightly irritating to the eyes and respiratory tract, according to a statement from Gloucester County Freeholder Director Robert Damminger. Anyone who thinks they're suffering any symptoms due to exposure is encouraged to seek medical advice.
"The company [Conrail] will offer assistance to residents who sought medical attention," Conrail spokesperson John Enright said.
Residents were initially told to remain in their homes and local schools were placed on lockdown as emergency officials assessed air quality concerns. At least 28 people were transported from the scene to Underwood Memorial Hospital, all complaining of respiratory problems. Officials confirm that some of the injured are workers from the Paulsboro Marine Terminal.
“Personal safety is our number one concern,” U.S. Coast Guard Petty officer Nick Ameen told NBC10.
Officials determined at about 11 a.m. that air quality had improved, meaning the situation was under control. However, they cautioned that the next significant threat will be when Conrail attempts to lift the cars out of the water without releasing any more chemicals.
Photos: Paulsboro Train Derailment
Paulsboro School District was on lockdown until 11 a.m. Students were dismissed when officials determined the air quality had improved.
The School District's Superintendent Dr. Frank Scambia told NBC10 that 50 students from all three of the district's schools were on lockdown inside the gymnasium at the high school.
The Fire Department also evacuated all employees on Commerce Street.
"The whole day is a wash," Doug Ricotta, owner of D&D Italian Bakery, told NBC10. "Everything's shutdown."
Roadways leading into Paulsboro were closed.
Officials say the biggest concern right now is the time when the cars are lifted out of the water, although they've already devised a plan to contain the vapors.
"Right now, the remaining chemical is frozen, at the bottom of the car," a Paulsboro official said. "[but} The Conrail engineers and hazmat crews are experts at plugging holes and sealing things and I'm sure they'll do what they need to do to stabilize that product."
The cars, however, will not be lifted out of the water until at least Saturday because it will take a day to bring in a crane large enough to lift the cars.
Leave a Comment:
Yikes! This can't be good.
So why did Chris Christie cut infrastructure funding?
ThinkingScientist
Actually the RR Bridge is owned and supposed to be maintained by the RR. Leave the politics out of it if you don't understand who is responsible for keeping the bridge in good repair.
Conrail is not a Private RR, It was owned by The Federal Government. Actually, parts of it are controlled by CSX and Norfolk Southern, but certain parts of the infrastructure are still under government control. One of the complicated public/private ownership deals. Some RR Bridges are owned by the state, tracks owned by the RR. Not sure about this part of NJ, but:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conrail
Atlas Shrugged strikes again. The best of big government comes to fruition.
We have decided as a nation to head along that path. It will only get worse.
ITS NOT FAIR
This isn't the first time this same bridge has collapsed, the same bridge caused major problem when it collapsed back in 2009.
This bridge is whats called a "Swing Bridge", Follow the link for excellent pictures of this bridge from its last collapse back in 2009.
Sunday, August 23, 2009 - A train carrying coal cars derailed early Sunday morning around 4 a.m. The trains came off their tracks after the railroad bridge over the Mantua Creek collapsed.
http://www.paulsborofire.com/fullstory.php?91854
From what a have read this bridge is at or past its useful life span, The last time this bridge collapsed it only caused minor damage from coal cars but now its collapse has caused a dangerous chemical to be released into the local area much less a creek.
I think its time for a major rebuild of the bridge if this rail line is to continue in operation, if they continue to just "fix it" each time there's a problem then when the day comes when something explosive goes over the bridge and the bridge collapses again then there will be hell to pay. Hopefully the rail road decides to do the right thing and replace this bridge now, before we have deaths the next time..
Check out the link as it shows the past problems and the pictures are fantastic and show the problems big time.
http://www.paulsborofire.com/fullstory.php?91854
Actually, COG, Conrail IS now a private railroad. Wikipedia screws you again!!!! Bwahahahahah!!!!!!! Tool!!!!!
ACTUALLY, hidingfromtheman, you are wrong and cog is partly wrong. Conrail was split between NS and CSX. The government has no part in the railroad. Don't know where you got that from but it's outdated information. http://www.conrail.com
Wonder what the cause will be at the conclusion of this investigation. Heard of too many conductor errors due to mobile device uses at the helm of the trains. Let's hope this is not the case. Might know more by the 5pm or 11pm news hours.
WTF? ...oh well....yep Julie...texting and training just don't mix......
Vinyl Chloride???? Yikes!!! Vinyl Chloride was one of the most dangerous VOC's on the EPA's list back when I was testing air and environmental samples years ago. It is extremely volatile, and has a very low PEL (Permissible Exposure Limit). The only thing worse that could have been on that train would have been Dimethyl Mercury.
Julieann,
Not sure if this story was updated since your comment but it mentions that the bridge collapsed beneath the train.
OK, I say BAN BRIDGES!!!
IA.ScooterTramp
Actually several high profile train accidents HAVE involved the operator texting and missing the signal to slow down or stop.
LA, DC, LA again. Doubtful this one was directly related unless they were exceeding a posted speed.... and yes they have those for trains.
I think Julie's point was that the bridge was texting.
conductors dont operate trains.
Lol BigJeff has it right. The bridge was texting and not paying attention that the train was coming and just collapsed.
Although that may be true about texting and train accidents this wasn't one of those cases. The bridge collapsed. No amount of texting causes that.
this is a swing bridge, which can be simulated at your desk by balancing a ruler on the end of a pen. there are some braces above. but since this was rebuilt from the same type of accident three years ago, I don't think the railroad will be allowed to slap up this sort of structure again. if they are crossing a navigable waterway, there will be a year or two of design and permit before they can put anything up, and it will probably be a trestle bridge.
it's quite obvious they can't run the loads they have into and out of that chemical plant on that rickety bridge design.
BigJeff-2931255-(I think Julie's point was that the bridge was texting.)
You know, someone could read this as the accident was all the collapsed bridge's fault for texting while on the job.(What follows is meant as tongue in cheek folks) Dang, just failing to do what humans expect, its job holding up trains that come through town. There should be a law passed that all government or private owned infrastructures must not text or use phones while public or private traffic is being expected or on it.
Perhaps Congress can pass some regulations about distracted duties in this matter. I mean if structures can cause this kind of thing to happen when texting, who knows what other accidents they have been causing due to distracted behaviors we haven't caught onto yet.
You know, RR crossing arms waving to other structures or pouting, lights never changing because their sleeping on the job or power outages because they throw a fit. Those turn signals that never turn or street signs that switch places. Huge pot holes that magically appear when they yell at each other and stoplights that make you stop at every intersection. Stop signs that vanish then reappear,speed limits that change numbers. I swear, if you listen to folks talk it seems at times the cities are breathing and living minus the humans," I swear officer, I didn't see a stop sign there!" Sound familiar?
Yep, like this bridge texting and falling down on the job.We need to have Congress pass some regulations forcing the infrastructures to stop acting un-American and wasting our tax dollars. Because if they don't, we will tear them all out and go back to walking. That will teach em all to waste good electricity, oil, coal, chemicals,steel,construction materials,resources,manpower, lives, pollution....
so after the ;
YOU decided to move the kids from two other schools?......good call....
IA.ScooterTramp, you are assuming that they moved the students. Just because they come from three of the district's schools does not imply they were moved. I bet you don't even know the area. These schools are all in proximity of one another and share common space. Small towns do that, you know.
Julie
i kinda wondered, that statement could be read either way, and proximity"? if they are not connected it amounts to the same thing. But no i have been to NJ a couple times but not that pirticlar area. Ever been to Iowa? we tend to know a bit about small towns.
guess we can chalk it up to great reporting.
ok...forgive an ol scooter tramp here, but what in the blue blazes is a phone message blast? ... do they mean a text being sent to multiple people at once ? ...
We get automated phone calls from my daughter's school re: closings, special events, news. Stuff that would be generic. One message from the principal that goes to all homes.
thank you ding....kinda what i thought. it sounded like such a good idea, guess i was just sceptical that anything concerning common sense would be initiated.
Thanks for asking, I was wondering the same thing.
The bridge that collapsed was built in 1873!! No wonder it collapsed!!! You would think that the railroad would build a new bridge by this time!!
Article did a good job of mentioning its a respiratory hazard, it's flammable, but it has other dangers not even mentioned. You even covered; Inhaling high concentrations causes mild symptoms of drowsiness, blurred vision, staggering gate and tingling and numbness in the extremities. Liquid vinyl chloride may cause severe irritation or burns on skin or eye contact.
Go goggle a "Vinyl Chloride MSDS" sheet.
Here is the biggy not told to people:
Several workers who handled and used vinyl chloride developed a rare form of liver cancer. IARC, NTP and OSHA all list vinyl chloride as a carcinogen. Persons in ill health where such illness would be aggravated by exposure to vinyl chloride should not be allowed to work with or handle this product.
(<5 Molar PPM averaged over any period not exceeding 15 minutes) with the prohibition of any personal direct
contact with vinyl chloride liquid and it is classified as a known cancer suspect agent.
So people exposed to this Cancer causing chemical also have just 180,000 pounds of this cancer causer in the Mantua Creek.
Some one knew that rail bridge was not safe and ignored it. It didn't just up and fall today without warning signs.
There's no money to fix it. Do you want tax cuts or do you want money to fix the infrastructure. NJ voted for tax cuts and that's what they got.
Industry will just regulate itself. We don't need the EPA meddling any more than it already does, and we certainly don't need more government oversight.
Also, for dinner tonight I'm preparing a nice, big bowl of e-coli to go with my meatloaf.
Someone else's account.
New Jersey is a Third World in a First World and Christie, who is actually a nice guy, is struggling to please everyone while giving in to New York next door. New York takes a lot of money meant for NJ and sends its garbage and filth to NJ. New York had Seinfeld, whereas NJ had Jersey Shore. See what I'm sayin! Now do the Gangnam Style New Jersey Style..where you hop and skip to avoid lots of hazardous spill. He, he, he!
From the posted photo, the bridge appears to have been built on wooden pilings. Uh oh....! Maybe the pilings rotted or wiggled in the mud. Maybe the termites did it. An investigation will probably find out that the age of the support structure was a major factor. Plus, the company's neglect.
Like that ad that shows people jumping up and down in their office claiming, "I am productive"...now people all across America can clean up oil spill, hazardous spill, sewer spill or butter spill and sing, "I am productive, I am productive...".
Got to get back to my social research on "public behavior and the internet. How polite and incorrect are we on the internet versus how honest and accurate are we face to face". :))
Watch someone else write on this right away and publish it.
We need someone to clean up garbage in our news spill!
Humans: 1
Earth: 0
Mantua Creek has polluting NJ for years. Probably rotted and ate away the bridge supports. Probably not enough traffic on that line to support CSX to rebuild. Let's hope the people are safe and they can move on without problems.
I had a friend get me an Emergency Response Guidebook. It lists everything that is transported. You've seen the diamond shaped signs with the numbers in them? You cross reference the number to find out what something is and it lists the hazards and how to respond to it.
I had taken some GIS classes (Geographic Information Systems) and I had modeled an actual chlorine leak that had happened in San Antonio, TX and showed the area it would have affected in my own city. It was interesting. I used free modeling software called ALOHA and MARPLOT and was able to gather all the weather info, wind, temperature, humidity, etc and got info on the leak from the EPA. I ended up presenting my project to my LEPC (Local Emergency Planning Commission) and my local fire department.
I carry that guideline in my vehicle. Never know when you might come across an accident.
Beavers and termites do not eat railroad ties, the tar is bad for their diet
Teapublicans:
"Infrastructure spendin'..????
We don't need no stinkin' infrastructure spendin'... We need more tax cuts !!!!!!!"
x
Why do so many train accidents happen on bridges?
That has to be the most misaligned, rickety, junk bridge I have ever seen. I work for a railroad and we spare no expense when it comes to quality infrastructure. From the pictures the rail ties are worn out on the bridge itself and the rail ties leading up to the bridge definitely show derailment damage. Of course those are old pictures but still.