Railroads

Risks and Hazards of Train Derailment

Individuals living in communities connected by the railroad industry assume a certain amount of risk. Railroad accidents have generally declined over the past 10 years, but despite the success of improved technology, safety procedures, and more stringent federal regulations, the rail industry still averages about 2,500 accidents a year with over 2,000 injuries and 200 fatalities. While highway-rail and trespassing incidents account for over 95 percent of these fatalities, the railroad industry averages a derailment of over 200 railcars carrying hazardous materials each year. Of those derailed, about 15 of the cars release their contents. Due to the potential devastation of even one railcar releasing hazardous materials, railroad safety continues to be a concern to national regulation and oversight agencies such as the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), as well as first responders around the country.

In a train derailment, local responders of an unsuspecting community will probably be the first on the scene. In any type of derailment, these local responders must first approach the scene cautiously from upwind [Page 543]to prevent inhalation of possible hazards; secure the scene to prevent others from rushing in; and identify the hazards or potential hazards by examining railcar placards and container labels, or obtaining the shipping documents from railroad personnel when possible. Then responders must consider the dangers within the specific context and assess the situation. If a derailment occurs to a passenger train without potentially dangerous materials, responders should call responsible agencies and qualified personnel (usually found on shipping documents) and begin rescue and recovery activities using extreme caution. In extreme circumstances, responders may have to implement mass-casualty management strategies such as triage to deal with large numbers of injured passengers.

In a derailment involving a potentially hazardous release, first responders will need to understand the properties of the hazards they may be confronting. Trains often carry multiple hazardous materials that could combine to become even more dangerous. For example, the world's largest anhydrous ammonia spill occurred in Minot, North Dakota, in January 2002. A derailment caused several tanks of anhydrous ammonia to puncture, and the ammonia produced a dense cloud that covered the community. Local responders were unable to see what and how many railcars were leaking. They could smell the ammonia, but according to the train's manifest, there were also railcars of liquid petroleum that derailed. Local responders feared the massive cloud over their city would become not only an inhalation hazard, but flammable as well. Fortunately, the poisonous cloud was not flammable.

...