Union Pacific Railroad reported a derailment of 5 tank cars and a spill of hazardous material in Schulenburg Texas at approximately 19:10 on June 15th. Schulenburg is located halfway between San Antonio and Houston, Texas in a rural area. Two of the tank cars derailed contain petroleum naptha xylene and xylene/ethylbenzene. The petroleum naphtha xylene is reportedly on fire. Currently there is a 1000 foot evacuation order in place at the site (involves 2 farmhouses). OSC Fife has dispatched START to the scene. STARTs ETA is approximately 23:00 CST.
START-3 personnel arrived on-site at 22:58 and meet with Union Pacific representatives. Union Pacific informed START that none of the railroad cars actually caught fire. A bridge crossing had caught fire with rail cars located on the bridge. Union Pacific removed the rail car from the bridge and the local volunteer fire department extinguished the fire.
Union Pacific representatives informed START that 22 of 107 cars had derailed on west bound train. However Union Pacific could not confirm the contenets of all the cars. It had been determined that Naptha-Xylene product had been spilled during the derailment along with 5 cars containing chlorine gas. The Naptha-Xylene product had been contained and does not appear to have reached any navagible waterway. Three of the 5 chlorine cars derailed however remained upright. The other two chlorine cars were damaged but had not released any product.
Union Pacific contractors including Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health (CTEH), Hulcher Environmental Services, Pat Baker, and USES were mobilizing the necessary equipment to respond to the derailment.
Union Pacific Personnel and contractors will continue clean-up activities. On 5/16/09 the two remaining chlorine cars will be assessed. One of the chlorine cars is suspended over a creek and has bridge support sturcture wrapped around the railcar.
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