Hazardous Materials Special Investigation Report - Hazardous Materials Release, Missouri Pacific Railroad Company's North Little Rock, Arkansas Railroad Yard, December 31, 1984

摘要

About 4:45 a.m., c.s.t., December 31, 1984, a switchman discovered ethylene oxide leaking from a tank car in the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company's automatic retarder classification railroad yard at North Little Rock, Arkansas. Railroad officials, fearing an explosion, evacuated the yard and formulated plans to transfer the remaining ethylene oxide to an empty rail tank car. At 3:15 p.m., in anticipation of the arrival of the equipment to transfer the ethylene oxide and concern about the tank car rocketing should ignition occur, the evacuation was expanded to include an estimated 2,500 persons within a 1-mile radius of the leaking car. After the transfer, the residual ethylene oxide was purged from the tank car with nitrogen, and the evacuation was terminated at 11:25 a.m., on January 1, 1985. There were no injuries or fire.