2023-07-17 17:58:33
WHITEMARSH TOWNSHIP, Pa. (AP) — A freight train derailment in southeastern Pennsylvania prompted preventive evacuations early Monday, but authorities said no injuries were reported and it posed no risk to the public.
The 40-car CSX train, operating on Norfolk Southern tracks, derailed around 4:50 a.m. in a wooded area of Whitemarsh Township. CSX said at least 16 cars went off the tracks, but local officials later said 15 cars had derailed.
Authorities cautiously evacuated 12 homes near the derailment site shortly after the incident was reported, Whitemarsh Township Police Chief Christopher Ward said. Those residents were allowed to return to their homes around 9:30 a.m.
Silicone granules leaked from at least one of the carriages, according to Whitemarsh police, but they posed no risk to local residents. Among the other derailed cars, five contained urea, a liquid fertilizer, and another contained tetrachlorethylene, which is used as a dry cleaning agent and metal degreasing solvent. At least two other carriages were empty.
While authorities are still investigating the cause of the derailment, a CSX spokesperson said it may have been “weather related.”
Norfolk Southern — and the entire U.S. rail industry — has been under intense scrutiny since one of its trains derailed and caught fire in February in Ohio, creating a huge plume of black smoke, forcing evacuations and raising environmental concerns.
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