Monday, January 10, 2005
January 10, 2005
Investigators Questioning Crew's Role in Train CrashBy MATTHEW L. WALD
GRANITEVILLE, S.C., Jan. 9 - Investigators seeking the cause of a train crash early Thursday that released clouds of chlorine gas and killed nine people said Sunday night that they were looking into whether a train crew was distracted or fatigued when it was time to reset a railroad switch.
The train carrying the chlorine ran off a through track and onto a side track, hitting a local train that had parked there about seven hours earlier. Investigators said Sunday night that the crew of the local train had reported back to the railroad dispatcher and "cleared their track warrant," which should have meant that they left the switch set to allow through traffic, said Debbie Hersman, the member of the National Transportation Safety Board assigned to the field investigation here. The switch showed no sign of tampering, she said, meaning that the crew that parked the train on Wednesday evening was apparently the last to touch it.
Investigators said that two of the three members of that Wednesday evening crew carried keys to the switch, and that investigators were seeking to determine whether the crew had conducted the required job briefing, discussing how tasks would be divided among them. Ms. Hersman said, "We're looking at whether there were any indications of distraction, whether or not there were rest issues."
Also on Sunday, emergency workers used plastic sheeting to stop up a leak in a chlorine tank car three days after the train crash ruptured the car and sent billowing green gas through the center of this town.
The plastic was a stopgap because the chlorine will eat through it, but technicians were unable to apply a steel patch because the tank car surface is warped by the wreck, said a spokesman for Norfolk Southern, which operated the train. "It has stopped the leak and enabled us to get to work," said Robin Chapman, the spokesman.
After they closed the hole, workers pumped in another chemical, sodium hydroxide, to convert the chlorine to a very strong bleach, which they then began pumping out to waiting tanker trucks. When enough is pumped out, Mr. Chapman said, they will roll the car 90 degrees to put the hole near the top and try to attach a plate made of lead, putty and steel.
Experts said it would take many days until all the chlorine could be removed from the scene. Officials hoped that late Sunday evening they could begin emptying two other cars filled with chlorine, one of them damaged. Each carries about 90 tons.
A crucial problem is that before the leaking car can be securely patched it must be rotated, and rotating the damaged car raises the risk of tearing the tank. New leaks are a possibility, said the Aiken County sheriff, Michael Hunt, who said that most of the 5,400 people ordered out of the area would have to stay out until at least Wednesday.
People exposed to chlorine continued to trickle into hospitals, complaining of coughs, eye irritation and difficulty breathing. The textile mill next to the crash scene said it had now accounted for all its employees, raising hopes that the death toll would not rise.
Discovery of a ninth body was announced late Saturday. Asked if there were more casualties still to be discovered, one Norfolk Southern emergency worker silently raised a hand with crossed fingers.
Some of the people coming to emergency rooms had not sought medical attention before, but others had been previously treated and released. Dr. Kenneth Grotz, an emergency room physician at Doctors Hospital in Augusta, Ga., across the Savannah River from the accident site, said that getting over the symptoms depended on the health of the patient and the extent of exposure. He also said people with respiratory symptoms were becoming fearful.
"They are saying, 'Oh my gosh, have I been poisoned?' " Dr. Grotz said. "People who got a good hit could have a cough that lingers for weeks." They are being treated with drugs to reduce inflammation and suppress coughing, he said.
At Doctors Hospital the number of inpatient victims is down to 4, from 12 on Friday, but 3 of those were still in critical condition. Patients with asthma or other lung problems before their exposures are the most likely to have permanent effects, said Dr. Grotz, as are children and the elderly. Some will have a permanent loss of ability to absorb oxygen, and some will have chronic hypersensitivity, he said.
At M.C.G. Health Systems, the hospital of the Medical College of Georgia, a spokeswoman, Deborah Humphrey, said, "We are seeing people return." But of the nine patients initially admitted for reasons related to the crash, only three remained hospitalized, and they were in good condition.
Thom Berry, a spokesman for the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, said that a car carrying a second hazardous chemical, another form of sodium hydroxide, was no longer believed to have leaked.
After the wreckage is cleared, a contractor will remove the soil that was contaminated with chlorine and diesel oil from the locomotives, Mr. Berry said.
Investigators Questioning Crew's Role in Train CrashBy MATTHEW L. WALD
GRANITEVILLE, S.C., Jan. 9 - Investigators seeking the cause of a train crash early Thursday that released clouds of chlorine gas and killed nine people said Sunday night that they were looking into whether a train crew was distracted or fatigued when it was time to reset a railroad switch.
The train carrying the chlorine ran off a through track and onto a side track, hitting a local train that had parked there about seven hours earlier. Investigators said Sunday night that the crew of the local train had reported back to the railroad dispatcher and "cleared their track warrant," which should have meant that they left the switch set to allow through traffic, said Debbie Hersman, the member of the National Transportation Safety Board assigned to the field investigation here. The switch showed no sign of tampering, she said, meaning that the crew that parked the train on Wednesday evening was apparently the last to touch it.
Investigators said that two of the three members of that Wednesday evening crew carried keys to the switch, and that investigators were seeking to determine whether the crew had conducted the required job briefing, discussing how tasks would be divided among them. Ms. Hersman said, "We're looking at whether there were any indications of distraction, whether or not there were rest issues."
Also on Sunday, emergency workers used plastic sheeting to stop up a leak in a chlorine tank car three days after the train crash ruptured the car and sent billowing green gas through the center of this town.
The plastic was a stopgap because the chlorine will eat through it, but technicians were unable to apply a steel patch because the tank car surface is warped by the wreck, said a spokesman for Norfolk Southern, which operated the train. "It has stopped the leak and enabled us to get to work," said Robin Chapman, the spokesman.
After they closed the hole, workers pumped in another chemical, sodium hydroxide, to convert the chlorine to a very strong bleach, which they then began pumping out to waiting tanker trucks. When enough is pumped out, Mr. Chapman said, they will roll the car 90 degrees to put the hole near the top and try to attach a plate made of lead, putty and steel.
Experts said it would take many days until all the chlorine could be removed from the scene. Officials hoped that late Sunday evening they could begin emptying two other cars filled with chlorine, one of them damaged. Each carries about 90 tons.
A crucial problem is that before the leaking car can be securely patched it must be rotated, and rotating the damaged car raises the risk of tearing the tank. New leaks are a possibility, said the Aiken County sheriff, Michael Hunt, who said that most of the 5,400 people ordered out of the area would have to stay out until at least Wednesday.
People exposed to chlorine continued to trickle into hospitals, complaining of coughs, eye irritation and difficulty breathing. The textile mill next to the crash scene said it had now accounted for all its employees, raising hopes that the death toll would not rise.
Discovery of a ninth body was announced late Saturday. Asked if there were more casualties still to be discovered, one Norfolk Southern emergency worker silently raised a hand with crossed fingers.
Some of the people coming to emergency rooms had not sought medical attention before, but others had been previously treated and released. Dr. Kenneth Grotz, an emergency room physician at Doctors Hospital in Augusta, Ga., across the Savannah River from the accident site, said that getting over the symptoms depended on the health of the patient and the extent of exposure. He also said people with respiratory symptoms were becoming fearful.
"They are saying, 'Oh my gosh, have I been poisoned?' " Dr. Grotz said. "People who got a good hit could have a cough that lingers for weeks." They are being treated with drugs to reduce inflammation and suppress coughing, he said.
At Doctors Hospital the number of inpatient victims is down to 4, from 12 on Friday, but 3 of those were still in critical condition. Patients with asthma or other lung problems before their exposures are the most likely to have permanent effects, said Dr. Grotz, as are children and the elderly. Some will have a permanent loss of ability to absorb oxygen, and some will have chronic hypersensitivity, he said.
At M.C.G. Health Systems, the hospital of the Medical College of Georgia, a spokeswoman, Deborah Humphrey, said, "We are seeing people return." But of the nine patients initially admitted for reasons related to the crash, only three remained hospitalized, and they were in good condition.
Thom Berry, a spokesman for the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, said that a car carrying a second hazardous chemical, another form of sodium hydroxide, was no longer believed to have leaked.
After the wreckage is cleared, a contractor will remove the soil that was contaminated with chlorine and diesel oil from the locomotives, Mr. Berry said.
