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.”