Thirty-two (32) cars of a southbound Norfolk Southern (NS) freight train derailed with three hazardous material cars leaking about 42,000 gallons of sodium hydroxide, causing an evacuation of 20 to 40 residents on June 30, 2006. The derailment occurred at 8:36 a.m., while the train was descending a heavy mountain grade (Keating Summit) in a remote area on the Harrisburg Division of the Buffalo Line Subdivision at milepost (MP) BR 110.5 in McKean County, Pennsylvania north of Emporium. The general pile-up occurred at MP BR 111.0. There were no injuries to the train crew or to the evacuated residents but the sodium hydroxide lost from three tank cars has been blamed for a major environmental event that caused a large fish kill and extensive aquatic damage in the Sinnemahoning-Portage Creek, Driftwood Branch and Sinnemahoning Creeks. The Department of Environmental Protection has issued a notice of violation to NS Railway. Equipment damage has been estimated at $ 934,000 with track and structure damage set at $ 80,000. Loss of lading was estimated at $ 1,215,000. At the time of the accident it was daylight, conditions were clear, the temperature was 58 degrees F with winds from the west at 5 to 10 MPH. The accident was caused by the failure of the train crew to follow published carrier train handling and airbrake instructions combined with excessive speed while operating down a 2.6 % grade. The engineers recent or chronic use of unauthorized opiates and benzodiazepines may have contributed to the cause of the accident.


    Zugriff

    Zugriff über TIB

    Verfügbarkeit in meiner Bibliothek prüfen


    Exportieren, teilen und zitieren



    Titel :

    Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Safety Headquarters Assigned Accident Investigation Report HQ-2006-58, Norfolk Southern, Keating, Pennsylvania, June 30, 2006


    Erscheinungsdatum :

    2006


    Format / Umfang :

    7 pages


    Medientyp :

    Report


    Format :

    Keine Angabe


    Sprache :

    Englisch