Toxic-gas leak in Tennessee derailment forces 5,000 to flee

By LAUREN THOMAS

Bloomberg          

A CSX Corp. train carrying highly flammable, toxic gas derailed and caught fire near Knoxville, Tennessee, causing the evacuation of 5,000 people.

The one tank car involved in the blaze was still burning at 7:30 a.m. local time Thursday, hours after the incident, CSX said. The cargo, acrylonitrile, is used to make acrylic fibers and plastics. If inhaled at high levels, it can cause nausea, headaches and kidney irritation, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Ten law enforcement officials were taken to the hospital for treatment after breathing in the fumes, said Marian O’Briant, a spokeswoman for the Blount County sheriff’s department.

“CSX is working with first responders and relief agencies,” company spokeswoman Kristin Seay said. CSX is offering assistance to displaced residents, including lodging, she said.

Firefighters were summoned around midnight with initial reports that the blaze was caused by liquefied petroleum gas, according to Blount County firefighter Kermit Easterling. The train car was leaking, he said, and it’s unclear how long it will take to clean up.

An evacuation zone was set up in a two-mile (3.2 kilometer) radius from the accident near Maryville, Tennessee, and could be in place for as long as 48 hours, the Blount County sheriff’s office said. The city of about 27,000 sits at the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains.

The CSX train, en route to Waycross, Georgia, from Cincinnati, Ohio, consists of two locomotives and 57 cars, of which 12 were empty, Seay said. A total of 27 cars are carrying hazardous materials. Cars of acrylonitrile are located on either side of the burning rail car. No crude oil is among the cargo.

In February, a CSX oil train derailed in West Virginia causing as many as 15 tankers to catch fire and a state of emergency to be declared in two counties.

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