Hazardous Materials Special Investigation Report - Release of Oleum during Wreckage-Clearing Following Derailment of Seaboard System Railroad Train EXTRA 8294 North Clay, Kentucky, February 5, 1984

摘要

At 8:50 a.m., on February 5, 1984, 38 cars of Seaboard System Railroad freight train Extra 8294 North, consisting of 106 cars and a 4-unit locomotive, were derailed at a facing point switch near Clay, Kentucky. The derailment began when a broken truck bolster on the trailing end of the 56th car(SCL boxcar 635204) struck the closure rail of a left-hand turnout and derailed. One of the derailed cars, tank car GATX 94350, contained oleum (fuming sulfuric acid). During the derailment the trailing end of the tank car incurred a 4-inch by 1/8 inch fracture from which a small amount of acid leaked and produced light vapor clouds. A temporary plug was installed to prevent further leakage. Two days later, as a wreckage-clearing crew contracted by the railroad was preparing to empty the oleum car, the temporary repair plug in the fracture blew out and an estimated 1,800 gallons of oleum was released and vaporized. During the following 24 hours, a 2-by 3-mile area of Bourbon County, Kentucky, was affected, forcing the evacuation of 25 families; 24 residents were treated for minor respiratory complaints.