Posted on 01/06/2005 8:37:59 AM PST by Peach
AP Photo/Aiken Standard, Michael Gibbons Hazardous material workers head to the scene where two Norfolk Southern freight trains collided early Thursday, Jan. 6, 2005, in Grantville, spilling a hazardous chemical and sending dozens of people to a decontamination site in Aiken. More photos...
One dead, 70 treated after chemical spill that followed train crash
AMY GEIER EDGAR
Associated Press
GRANITEVILLE, S.C. - Aiken County officials have confirmed one person has died and at least 70 were injured when two trains crashed here Thursday morning and spilled a hazardous chemical.
Sheriff's Lt. Michael Frank did not give details of who was killed or how they died. He said 70 people have been treated at Aiken Regional Medical Center. All but about 20 were released; some were admitted to intensive care units, Frank said.
A Norfolk Southern freight train with two locomotives and 42 rail cars struck a locomotive with two rail cars parked at a siding at Avondale Mills, said railroad spokesman Robin Chapman.
Chapman said three cars on the moving train were carrying chlorine and there was a release of the gas. He did not know where the train was going.
Two crew members on that train were taken to a hospital after inhaling chlorine. No one was aboard the parked train, Chapman said.
One of the loose cars struck a tree, knocked it onto a car and trapped a woman inside for about two hours, Frank said. The woman was removed and taken to a hospital for treatment. Her condition was unavailable.
National Transportation Safety Board spokeswoman Lauren Peduzzi said the agency will investigate the accident. A team of investigators was set to leave Washington around noon.
There were at least three hazardous chemicals on the train, Berry said, but officials were most concerned about the chlorine gas, which affects respiratory and central nervous systems. It can damage the throat, nose, eyes and can cause death. Berry said the gas has a strong odor and is heavier than air so it stays close to the ground.
Frank said emergency workers had found Graniteville residents walking outdoors and warned them to stay inside. Temperatures in the area were well above average with overnight lows in the 50s and highs in the mid-70s Thursday, so residents were told to close their doors and windows and shut off air-conditioning or heating systems.
Light winds Thursday afternoon could spread the chlorine to areas beyond the crash site but also could help lessen the danger by dissipating the gas, Berry said.
The National Weather Service recommended that people within a two-mile radius of the crash site stay indoors and keep their air-ventilation systems off.
Douglas Brown, 44, lives two streets away from the railroad tracks. He said he heard a boom that shook his house and heard the sound of metal dragging about 2:30 a.m.
Brown got in his car and drove to the site of the crash. He said he saw a fog over the ground.
"You could smell it real good, it made your tongue numb, your throat get sore and your eyes get dry," Brown said.
Deputies sent him to the University of South Carolina-Aiken campus to be decontaminated. Brown said his wife and two children were at home but were not asked to leave.
Officials did not know how many people had been decontaminated at USC-Aiken and Midland Valley High School.
At the university, two tents were set up. In one tent, people exposed to the chemicals removed their clothes and were washed down. They then moved to a second tent where they were given medical attention. Some were sent to the hospital.
The Governor flew over the crash site and gave an interview. He saw dead animals around the area of heaviest concentration of the chemical leak and also a dead body outside a house.
I'm shocked he flew here because a no fly zone has been established as they don't want to disturb the clouds of chemicals that are currently airborne.
Keep your head down, for sure.
Maybe he flew too high to disturb the air at ground level? Or maybe they just want to keep the news helicopters the heck out of there until they won't be able to rubberneck at the dead . . .
No offense to your governor, but what good is his flying over the site going to do?
It is funny, I haven't thought about Sea Hunt for years, but I can still remember the theme music and bits and pieces of the action sequences . . . obvious had a strong effect on my infant mind . . . :-D
Thankfully, I don't think anybody has a picture . . .
I mentioned on another thread about the insidious nature of chlorine. It is transported as a condensed liquid, at room temperature it is a green-yellow gas with a suffocating odor similar to bleach. Your olfactory senses get used to it and you won't be able to detect a change in concentration which can be quickly fatal. It also causes edema and it is corrosive, easily forming acids in contact with water. Being a very reactive element, it combines with just about everything. Nasty stuff. Used to be used as a war gas in WW-I.
What are the winds like there? Enough to disperse the gas and sweep it out of the area? I presume they are containing the spill. You'll note they always transport sodium hydroxide with chlorine, which can be used to neutralize the spill if done carefully.
I'm wataching a tea olive shrub gently blow in the wind; a little while ago it was quite windy which isn't good.
They had hoped the sun would come out to help burn it off more quickly but it's only popped out for a few moments.
I feel quite safe and hopefully my burning eyes are just allergies. No one else seems to be affected; the neighbors have all been calling each other.
Is Graniteville near to Woodruff or Greenville? Saw your post on the political thread (electoral debate)...sounds dangerous! Hope things are getting better quick down there...
Greenville is about 2.5 hours north of us. I don't know about Woodruff.
Graniteville is part of Aiken county (the largest county in SC) and is about 20 minutes from Augusta, Georgia where they play the Masters. We're in Aiken.
They just said on the news that things seem to be getting worse...I don't know what they mean by that and need to go and pay attention for a few minutes.
Are the three of you suggesting that Chlorine gas is harmless? Or that the AP is fabricating the danger? What's your point?
I have no idea why he did this. We'd been told for a few hours that airplane traffic within five miles of the crash site could disturb the chemical clouds overhead.
I think it was beyond foolish and am rather angry. And I think it's panicked people even more to hear there are dead animals, fish and at least one body lying outside.
Considering there are dead animals and one person lying on the ground outside, anyone who is underestimating the danger is an idiot.
HazMat teams are finally moving into the area. Thus far they have only been treating people who came to the staging area.
The concern is that as night falls, the air gets heavier and the chlorine will be pushed down to the ground and blanket the area.
5,400 hundred residents are being either evacuated in Graniteville or well being checks.
Dixie - I know you are no longer in the area but have a friend here.
This is the thread for updates on the chemical spill in Aiken that has put Aiken County under a state of emergency.
First off, I pinged Petronski. He had nothing to do with this. You've been a freeper longer enough and should know better.
Secondly, I never commented on the hazardous nature of anything on this post, and was merely supplying a graphic manufactured by Petronski and in support of Dhuff' assertion that AP is a lousy news source.
Don't go claiming the horse has zebra stripes when you haven't even turned on the light.
I apologize for someone elses lack of basic knowledge.
Associated Press © January 6, 2005 | Last updated 2:50 PM Jan. 6
A Norfolk Southern freight train carrying chlorine gas struck a parked train near Graniteville, S.C., early today, killing two people and injuring at least 180, authorities said. Decontamination sites were treating people exposed to fumes.
The injured were taken to area hospitals. Most were treated for respiratory ailments and released; at least 46 were admitted for treatment, and 13 of those were listed in critical condition.
Thanks for that update, all4one.
13 of 42 rail cars have derailed. All carrying chemicals in concentrated form.
You are kindly welcome...Yikes...all of the cars were carrying chemicals....stay safe!!!
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