A freight prepare that derailed in western Arizona Wednesday night time initially believed to have been carrying hazardous supplies was really simply transporting corn syrup, officers mentioned Thursday.
Eight freight rail tankers derailed at Toprock Bridge close to Interstate 40 round 7:40 p.m. Wednesday.
The Mojave County Sheriff’s Workplace initially mentioned that the prepare was hauling hazardous supplies, however BNSF Railway, the prepare’s operator, confirmed it had been carrying corn syrup.
“There have been no accidents because of the derailment and preliminarily reviews point out there are not any hazardous supplies concerned,” BNSF mentioned.
The derailment passed off close to the state’s border with California in a rural non-residential space about 20 miles north of Lake Havasu Metropolis.
The sheriff’s workplace notified the Nationwide Transportation Security Board following the derailment. Officers haven’t shared what might have induced the prepare to fall off its tracks.
BNSF Railway operates one of many largest freight railroads in North America.
The derailment scare is the newest in a sequence of unrelated derailments throughout the nation, together with one of many worst derailments in latest historical past that passed off on Feb. 3 in East Palestine, Ohio.
The Norfolk Southern derailment resulted within the launch of gallons of poisonous chemical compounds into the air and left a lot of the water and soil within the small Ohio city contaminated.
The environmental fallout spurred mass evacuations of the tight-knit group, and enraged native officers, together with Ohio Lawyer Normal David Yost, who filed a lawsuit this week claiming final month’s derailment was “completely avoidable.”
“The derailment was completely avoidable and the direct results of Norfolk Southern’s follow of placing its personal earnings above the well being, security and welfare of the communities during which Norfolk Southern operates,” the federal go well with filed Tuesday alleges.
Norfolk Southern has seen an almost 80% enhance in its accident fee over the previous decade with 20 derailments since 2015 leading to chemical discharges, Yost alleges.
Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw has apologized for the catastrophe and mentioned the corporate will arrange a medical compensation fund for any long-term well being points that locals might encounter.
