Train derailment in Attica

ATTICA — A train derailment occurred in the village of Attica Tuesday at about 8:19 p.m. involving 20 railcars. Village maintenance crews have been working tirelessly to pack dirt since they arrived on the scene at 11 p.m., according to Village Administrator Nicole Lenhart. Attica-Venice-Reed (AVR) Fire District Chief Lonnie Jaynes shared that, as of right now, the cause of the derailment is undetermined. As a result of the incident, E. US 224 traffic has been detoured north on SR 4 to SR 162 into Huron County, then on SR 99 through Willard to reconnect with U.S. 224 until further notice. Cleanup began shortly after midnight and is expected to take one to two days. While Norfolk-Southern could not be reached for direct comment, the railroad released the following statement to ABC Channel 5 regarding the incident: "One of our trains traveling through Attica, derailed shortly before 8:30 p.m. Feb. 11. Initial assessments indicate 20 cars derailed, resulting in leaks from four cars, including three non-hazardous cars and one car carrying ethanol. There are no injuries and there is no danger to the public. Our team is working closely with local first responders to mitigate the incident." Cleanup Seneca County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) Director John Spahr spoke to the A-T about his department's involvement in the response and cleanup after the derailment. He shared that he expects surface damage to property adjacent to where the derailment occurred but does not expect any environmental impact. "Two tankers were leaking; one tanker leaking corn syrup and the other was leaking ethanol," Spahr explained. "Due to the temperature and the frozen earth, there was very little ground penetration, and the liquids pooled on the surface. The corn syrup leak was contained with consumable hazmat response 'socks' and pads and the ethanol was dammed with topsoil that was brought in by the village." The cleanup and remediation of the derailment started at about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday and is estimated to take a "few days," according to Spahr. He also provided the steps to cleaning up. "First, all the cars must be emptied and then moved out of the spill area. They will be placed either elsewhere near the rail bed or trucked out entirely. Then soil samples can be taken to determine how much of the affected soil needs to be removed. Further soil samples will be tested to ensure that all the intrusion has been remediated." Spahr said that EMA is "more of a resource and logistics posture to support" other agencies, which includes the rail company and its partners. The first few hours of response focus on safety and information by the fire department with EMA assisting in "filling the requests of the fire department until the rail company gets on scene." In incidents like this, the first step of the EMA's involvement is either Sphar will contact the incident commander (IC) or the incident commander or a designee will contact him with an initial request. "On this incident, the IC wanted the HazMat trailer deployed to the scene to assist with containment of the leaking tankers," he explained. "Then lighting, and then I acted as liaison with the Ohio EPA and EMA Watch office to keep them informed of the status of the event." Spahr said that although this incident was "fairly straightforward," it could have resulted in a fire or explosion due to the leaking ethanol. "The quick and professional response by AVR Fire and the village of Attica kept the residents safe until the threat could be removed," he concluded. "Those tankers could have just as easily been filled with even more volatile chemicals than they were. If you live near a railroad, major trucking route, etc., be prepared with a plan to evacuate, and to get important information. You can sign up with the Seneca County Wireless Emergency Notification System so that you can get the latest information on events that impact your ability to protect your life and property." To sign up for the free Seneca County Wireless Emergency Notification System, text SenecaAlerts! to 69310 or visit www.senecacountyema.org/wens Responding deputies from the Seneca County Sheriff's Office provided traffic-related assistance at the scene and "assessed with AVR Fire," observing no injuries or other issues, Sheriff Fred Stevens told the A-T. He and a deputy left the scene at midnight as all law enforcement-related issues were handled at that time. Stevens said the Ohio Department of Transportation had put up road detour signs and AVR Fire was in command of the scene. The sheriff's office will have a "very little" role in the cleanup of the accident since it falls under AVR's control. Stevens said the department would provide support if AVR needed assistance from law enforcement. "We utilized our drone technology from the start to help assess the damage from above and used a drone with sniffer technology through our mutual aid with Willard and was able to quickly find out that there were no hazardous air quality issues," he concluded. In a press release, Stevens shared what data the drone collects and what it determines. The drone system collected a wide range of atmospheric data, including: Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) – Industrial and chemical fumes Flammable gases (CxHy) – Indicators of potential fuel leaks Carbon Monoxide (CO) – A potentially deadly gas from combustion Nitrogen Dioxide (NO₂) – A pollutant from industrial and vehicle emissions Hydrogen Sulfide (H₂S) – A gas with a strong odor that can be hazardous Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) – A naturally occurring gas from respiration and combustion Chlorine (Cl₂) – Used in water treatment, dangerous in high concentrations Oxygen (O₂) – Measured to ensure safe breathing conditions Temperature, humidity and pressure – Monitored for environmental stability He said the drone scanned the area multiple times and did not detect "hazardous levels of any substances."