MEC&F Expert Engineers : EAST MOLINE, ILLINOIS HAZARDOUS MATERIAL TRAIN DERAILMENT STILL UNDER INVESTIGATION

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

EAST MOLINE, ILLINOIS HAZARDOUS MATERIAL TRAIN DERAILMENT STILL UNDER INVESTIGATION





TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2015

EAST MOLINE, ILLINOIS

Railroad officials are still trying to determine why a pair of tanker cars  came off  the tracks in East Moline on Monday. 

The  cars -- part of a 16-car Canadian Pacific freight train loaded with flammable chemicals -- derailed at slow speed about 9:30 a.m. Monday in the 1000 block of 12th Avenue, East Moline, said Canadian Pacific spokesman Andy Cummings. There were no spills or injuries, and the cars did not overturn. The accident site was cleared by the afternoon.

How the accident occurred remained under investigation Tuesday, he said. He could not provide information on any damage the cars or engine may have sustained in the accident. 

BNSF owns the tracks.

BNSF spokesman Andy Williams said the derailment did not cause significant damage to the tracks and that the stretch of railway where the accident occurred was operational as of Tuesday afternoon.

According to hazardous material numbers on various tanker cars, contents included acetone, anhydrous ammonia and isopropanol, a highly flammable chemical that “may form an explosive mixture when mixed with air,” according to cameochemicals.noaa.gov.

One of the derailed cars was carrying isopropanol, and the other contained nonflammable chemicals.

We got lucky this time and there was no threat to public safety, East Moline Fire Department engineer Dale Shrum said Monday. "It does happen, and it didn't pose any threats to us at this time.  There is always a next time, and we may not be so lucky then.”