EagleTribune.com, North Andover, MA

Merrimack Valley

Cause of train derailment under investigation; damaged car protected from rain

By Jim Patten and Mark Vogler
Staff Writers
Published: May 10, 2008

LAWRENCE — Workers built a tent over a damaged railroad tanker car containing sodium chlorate to protect it from the rain yesterday.

The car derailed and was torn open Thursday spilling some of its cargo along the tracks before it came to a stop in a railroad yard at Andover and Blanchard streets.

Lawrence fire Chief Peter Takvorian said it was fortunate the accident happened Thursday, when the weather was dry.

"We were 24 hours away from the potential of having it go very badly," Takvorian said, referring to yesterday's rainy weather, which would have hampered cleanup operations.

"When water comes in contact with it (sodium chlorate), it heats up and gives off extra oxygen, which makes for potentially hazardous conditions," Takvorian said.

"You could have an intense fire. You could have runoff with water carrying that product down drains. The potential for additional contamination would have been much worse. So, we're certainly pleased it happened yesterday (Thursday) and not today," he said.

Takvorian said he was pleased with the coordinated response from federal, state and local teams involved in the cleanup — the first of its kind in recent memory in the railroad yard.

A section of Andover Street was blocked off after the derailment and was reopened yesterday afternoon as the investigation into the incident continued.

MBTA spokeswoman Lydia Rivera said railroad officials were trying to determine what caused the derailment, which led to the tank car being torn open, spilling the sodium chlorate powder along an 800- to 1,000-foot-long path before the freight train stopped.

"There is no new information," Rivera said yesterday. "That will come as the investigation progresses."

Police Chief John Romero said the incident appears to have begun with the derailment of the tank car and the car in front of it.

The tank car then leaned over and came in contact with at least two cars on a train on adjacent tracks tearing a 10-foot by 12-foot hole in the wall of the tank car. The car was loaded with 250,000 pounds of the chemical.

St. Patrick's School on Parker Street was closed yesterday as a precaution.

About 150 residents in 20 homes were evacuated due to fears the powder would form a cloud and spread over the area.

The South Lawrence East School was opened as an evacuation center Thursday so the displaced residents would have a place to go.

The evacuees were allowed to return to their homes about 2 a.m. today after the car was made safe and moved to another location in the railroad yard.

Romero said crews used aluminum and Plexiglas to shore up the hole in the side of the tank car, then wrapped the repaired area in plastic material that clung to the tank, before moving it.

Railroad crews also worked to repair sections of the track which were damaged by the derailed cars, he said.

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