8 Die in Chlorine Tanker Derailment
Photo by Vern Miller, Panama City New Herald
A chlorine tank car, ruptured in a freight train derailment, released a chlorine vapor cloud that killed eight persons and injured 88 others near Youngstown, Fla. Twenty of the injured were sheriff’s deputies and two were emergency medical technicians. In addition, some 3500 persons were forced to flee their homes.
The derailment of 47 cars in the 140-car train last February 26 was 1 ½ miles north of Youngstown, a small community 22 miles northeast of Panama City. It was also about 2500 feet east of U.S. Highway 231, a main north-south route, in a marshy area where a small stream flows into Little Bear Creek. The chlorine, which is 2 ½ times heavier than air and has a 460-1 expansion ratio, appears to have followed this marshy area and stream in a westerly direction. It was held down by a dense early morning fog and it hovered over a low stretch of the highway.
Initial reports indicate that the autos of several victims stalled in the vapor cloud and other victims apparently drove off the road into ditches after being overcome. Several persons were found lying in the median divider, apparently overcome as they attempted to escape on foot.
Highly lethal concentration
A few breaths of chlorine at a 1000 ppm concentration can be lethal, and an environmental protection specialist estimated the ppm at Youngstown to be 10,000 to 100,000 ppm.
Jim Heisler, Bay County civil defense director, coordinated and directed the operations of all emergency agencies at the scene, which included the Atlanta & Bay St. Andrews Railroad, Bay County Sheriffs Department, Florida Highway Patrol, Florida Marine Patrol, Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission, Salvation Army, Tyndall Air Force Base Fire Department, several Bay County volunteer fire departments, and the hazardous materials team of the Jacksonville Fire Department, as well as several other state and federal agencies.
Personnel from Hulcher Hmergency Services, a private concern which specializes in hazardous materials derailments, were brought in by the railroad to assist in the handling of the hazardous chemicals involved in this incident.
By the afternoon of the derailment, a Sunday, emergency and railroad personnel were able to get in close enough to the wreckage to determine the extent of the damage and what other materials were involved. Nineteen tank cars were derailed, including a second car of chlorine which remained intact, four tank cars of caustic soda, one of which was leaking, one car of ammonium nitrate, one car of sodium hydroxide, one car of turpentine, and one tank car containing 30,000 gallons of LPG that was imbedded in both an embankment and a box car of bricks. The LPG tanker, which was on its side with the dome covered by debris, had a minor leak at the valve.
Photo by Bill Killen
After completing the wreckage survey, it was decided the chlorine would have to he neutralized before anything else could be done to clear the wreckage. On Monday afternoon, Tyndall Air Force Base Fire Department crews foamed the ruptured chlorine car to prevent any sparks when the car was moved and also to try to help hold down the fumes.
Hazardous materials experts decided that the best course of action would be to dig a pit, fill the pit with water and caustic soda from the derailed tank cars, drain the chlorine to the bottom of the pit, and neutralize the chlorine by letting it bubble up through the caustic soda.
Photo by Bill Killen
Chlorine drained from tank
This operation was delayed until Tuesday, February 28, when pumps and piping were brought in. Late Tuesday, emergency crews dragged the chlorine car along a man-made ditch to a pit dug out by bulldozers. Emergency crews from the company that manufactured the chlorine were flown in to supervise draining it into the pit.
The amount of chlorine had been greater than was estimated and the offloading continued late into Thursday night. Railroad emergency repair crews, watched by safety and fire personnel, worked late into Wednesday and Thursday nights removing the wreckage and rebuilding the track. By early Friday morning, the chlorine had been neutralized to the point that emergency crews could begin to right the LPG tank car.
At 9 a.m. Friday, everyone was evacuated from the wreckage area except for Hulcher Emergency Services personnel. The Hulcher crew then cautiously began to right the propane tank car. After the car was righted, it was left resting on the ground next to the railbed while railroad crews completed the laying of track and moved an empty LPG tank car to the site. Off-loading began late Friday afternoon and was completed that night. The evacuees were permitted to return to their homes Saturday morning.
Problems encountered
Several logistic and equipment problems faced emergency crews due to the derailment’s isolated location. The Youngstown area, like the majority of rural northwestern Florida, is protected by small volunteer Fire departments that lack the equipment to handle an incident of this magnitude. Extra selfcontained breathing apparatus had to be flown in from a nearby Air Force base along with a portable compressor for recharging air bottles. Additional specialized equipment was brought in from Jacksonville.
The water supply was limited to a very small pond approximately 75 yards west of the derailment, a 1400-gallon tanker, and a 750-gpm pumper with a 500-gallon booster tank, and a Tyndall AFB crash truck. The damming of a small drainage ditch along the highway provided a temporary drafting site to supply two 2 ½-inch lines to cover the LPG car during off-loading.
The only communications from the wreckage area to the CD Command Post 14 miles away was by portable radio. The portable radios at times were not strong enough to reach the command post and communications were often broken.
This derailment is currently under investigation by numerous federal and Florida state agencies. Evidence discovered at the site indicates that sabotage caused the derailment. This evidence has been turned over to the FBI, which also entered the investigation.
