News-Sentinel photo by Paul Efird
A plume of toxic smoke pours Sunday from a derailed train in Farragut carrying sulfuric acid.
Posted on 09/16/2002 1:47:26 AM PDT by The Raven
News-Sentinel photo by Paul Efird
A plume of toxic smoke pours Sunday from a derailed train in Farragut carrying sulfuric acid.
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Residents may not be allowed home for two days
By J.J. Stambaugh and Don Jacobs, News-Sentinel staff writers
September 16, 2002
Thousands of residents evacuated from Knox and Blount counties Sunday after a train derailment near Farragut's Anchor Park may not get to return home for two days.
A leaking tanker car that was part of the derailment sent a cloud of toxic, fuming sulfuric gas over Fort Loudoun Lake.
"They're saying it could be 24 to 48 hours," Knox County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Martha Dooley said.
About 3,000 people left their homes in Farragut, Concord and Southwest Knox County, said Holt Clark, operations officer for the Knoxville-Knox County Emergency Management Agency.
"We're estimating that from the Census tract, but getting them out was more important than counting them," he said.
Rural/Metro spokesman Jason Pack said officials had hoped "a plan to put soda ash" onto the fuming acid would work quickly enough to get the evacuees back in their homes by morning.
It didn't.
"It was working too slow," he said.
Officials with Norfolk Southern Railway called in a Pittsburg clean-up crew that specializes in dealing with sulfuric acid. Those crew members recommended emergency workers use "regular firefighting foam" and water, in addition to the soda ash, Pack said.
"They have specialized experience working with fuming acid like this," Pack said.
Late Sunday night, crews were spraying a constant "water mist" onto the gaseous plume, along with foam, Pack said.
"That should, hopefully, speed up the process," Pack said.
That should be welcome news to the thousands of evacuees.
Everyone within 1.3 miles of the accident site near Turkey Creek Road and Brixworth Boulevard were told to leave their homes earlier Sunday. Everyone else within three miles of the accident was told "to shelter in place," which means residents were to turn off air conditioners and shut their doors and windows, Knox County Sheriff Tim Hutchison said.
"This is one of the most densely populated areas in Knox County," Hutchison said.
Blount County Sheriff James Berrong said hundreds of people were evacuated from Louisville and the Topside Road area.
There were no reports of fatalities, but an elderly woman and a Knox County sheriff's deputy were taken to area hospitals, authorities said.
Sixteen people visited the emergency room at Fort Sanders Park West Medical Center with a variety of symptoms.
Nancy Mayes, marketing and public relations manager at the hospital, said most were treated for burning eyes or burning skin. A few had respiratory problems and received breathing treatments, she said.
The cause of the accident was unknown, authorities said.
Agents from the Knoxville office of the FBI joined the investigation within minutes of the wreck, said R. Joe Clark, special agent in charge.
"My assessment at this time is that there is no outside force involved in the derailment," Clark said. "I think it's a natural disaster; there is no terrorism, foreign or domestic, involved."
Susan Terpay, spokeswoman for Norfolk Southern, said the rail where the crash occurred had been inspected Friday.
"About 19 trains go through there a day," she said. Terpay was unsure at what time the previous train had used the track before the wreck occurred.
The American Red Cross set up shelters at Bearden High School and Cokesbury United Methodist Church, 9908 Kingston Pike. Wal-Mart was providing food to evacuees and rescue workers. Norfolk Southern later established a claims line for people to get information. The number is 521-1405.
The accident occurred about 11:15 a.m. near Farragut's Anchor Park beside Fort Loudoun Lake.
The train wreck happened at the city limit of Farragut and Knox County, making it difficult to determine if the wreck was in the city limits or not, officials said.
Three locomotives were pulling a westbound Norfolk Southern train when the fourth car derailed, Hutchison said.
Terpay said the 141-car train originated in Allentown, Pa., and was bound for Birmingham, Ala.
"The first 25 cars derailed," Terpay said, adding the first two of three locomotives also derailed.
Of the 25 cars, 14 carried gravel, bricks and rolls of aluminum, she said. One of the derailed cars was a tanker carrying 10,600 gallons of sulfuric acid.
"This was a military tank car," Terpay said.
The car was "95 percent full" when it left the track and was ripped open in the pileup, said Chief Bob Waggoner with the Knox County Sheriff's Department.
According to officials, several rail cars, including the one bearing sulfuric acid, were piled on top of one another. A white cloud of corrosive gas rose more 300 feet in the air and drifted toward several neighborhoods on both sides of Fort Loudon Lake.
One rail car was carrying a pair of M1A1 tanks. Although that flatbed car derailed, neither tank was thrown from the train, Hutchison said. There were no ammunition or other explosives on the Army rail car, he said. The Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Coast Guard arrived at the command post on Virtue Road late Sunday to evaluate the situation.
Barbara Caprita, an on-scene coordinator for the EPA's Atlanta office, said it was unlikely the federal government would take over the cleanup effort.
The EPA generally only becomes involved when a cleanup outstrips the resources of the local agencies or the polluting parties are uncooperative, she said.
"I'm making sure that everything is as it should be according to regulations," Caprita said. "We are making sure there are no threats to the public or to the environment."
Many emergency workers, including Hutchison, complained of mild skin irritations and burning eyes as the day wore on.
According to a press release issued by the Knox County Sheriff's Department, 18 subdivisions in Farragut and West Knox County were evacuated or notified by deputies and by "reverse calling" through the E-911 system.
Hutchison said the evacuated residents would not be able to return to their homes Sunday night. He said the earliest they would be able to return would be this morning, and County Executive Mike Ragsdale said the cleanup would "take quite awhile."
Terpay said Sunday if authorities were able to quell the fuming sulfuric acid with the neutralizer, "people may be allowed back into their homes tonight."
The Knox County Sheriff's Department contributed a hazardous material team and more than 100 officers to Sunday's effort.
Rural/Metro Fire Department provided more than 50 firefighters and emergency personnel. The Knoxville Volunteer Emergency Rescue Squad, the Tennessee Highway Patrol, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency also took part.
J.J. Stambaugh may be reached at 865-342-6307 or stambaugh@knews.com. Don Jacobs may be reached at 865-342-6345 or jacobs@knews.com. Jamie Satterfield may be reached at 865-342-6308 or Satterfield@knews.com.
Copyright 2002, KnoxNews. All Rights Reserved.
Dennis has his job interview this morning at Cartwright Communications, maybe Central Comm too.. I HOPE.
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