LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The blaze that authorities initially said would end in a couple of hours instead spewed flames and smoke from a derailed tanker car for a second day Thursday with no end in sight, as crews scrambled to prevent it from igniting railcars loaded with toxic chemicals nearby.
Hundreds of people have had to evacuate, including the town of West Point and some people from the outskirts of Louisville. The burning butadiene, a chemical found in rubber used to make tires, can damage the central nervous and reproductive systems. Workers were hosing down railcars nearby filled with another corrosive chemical, hydrogen fluoride, which can cause severe respiratory damage.
All the water used to keep those cars cool, however, raised fears that contaminated water could wash into the confluence of the Salt and Ohio rivers. The Environmental Protection Agency was monitoring water quality and erected a dam to keep out contaminated water.
“This is as bad as it gets as far as a hazmat incident, if it were to be released,” said Art Smith, an emergency coordinator with the EPA.
Three workers were hospitalized after the blaze ignited while they used a torch Wednesday to try to separate train cars.
One of the workers remained in critical condition. Another worker, a contracted consultant, was released Thursday, said officials with Paducah & Louisville Railway, which was operating the train. The workers had been told the air was clear and they could use a cutting torch, said Gerald Gupton with P&L.
Asked whether the workers who supplied those air measurements were responsible for the fire, Gupton said, “Absolutely not. It was an accident.”
When further pressed about who was responsible, he said, “I’m not prepared to answer that right now. The investigation is being conducted.”
On Thursday, workers were siphoning styrene — another toxic chemical used in rubber — from one stricken railcar. Otherwise, the main concern and biggest threat of danger was the cars filled with hydrogen fluoride that were within about 10 feet of the burning car. Gupton said those cars would be moved carefully so that the chemical can be removed.
Evacuated residents who had lined up at a P&L outreach center to receive financial assistance were left with uncertainty. “I’ve never heard anything about how long it’s going to be, I guess we’re just going with the flow,” said Casey Bynum, a West Point resident who had evacuated with her six children.
