On October 10, 2007, at approximately 1 p.m., U.S. EPA R5 was notified of a major train derailment and fire located in Painesville, Ohio (about 20 miles east of Cleveland). The Lake County Health Department requested air monitoring support from Ohio EPA. Ohio EPA, in turn, requested the same support from U.S. EPA. Ohio EPA and U.S. EPA OSCs mobilized to the scene. START contract support also mobilized.
As of 7 am, on October 11, U.S. EPA and Ohio EPA are continuing to support local incident command by providing environmental monitoring and sampling (air / water) as well as operational support.
The current situation includes:
Approximately 300 residential homes within a 1/4 mile radius remain evacuated. It is unknown when the remainder of the evacuation will be lifted.
Approximately 30 railcars were involved in the derailment. Of those, eight (8) of them contained a flammable materials (ethanol, propane). In addition Phthalic Anhydride was found to be contained in one of the rail cars and observed to be on fire. Phthalic Anhydride is a skin irritant and inhalation hazard. Currently, the fire has been reduced, but a few cars are being allowed to continue to burn in a controlled manor.
Only one railcar contains propane, but it is not near the flames. This car is not under pressure and at this time does not pose a threat of explosion.
The plume intensity has dissipated, but continues to be monitored and sampled by CTEH and USEPA.
For more details, please refer to the site Polreps.
