No leak in train derailment

SIKESTON, Mo. -- A train derailment just south of Sikeston caused a hazardous material scare Thursday, but initial fears of a chemical spill turned out to be a false alarm after emergency response personnel assessed the situation.

"We really didn't have any idea what we had until we got here," said New Madrid County Sheriff Terry Stevens. Stevens' agency was one of the first on the scene of the derailment, about a mile south of Sikeston off New Madrid County Road 824. The sheriff's department evacuated residences and businesses in about a two-mile radius of the spot of the derailment on tracks running through farm fields.

A Burlington Northern Santa Fe mixed-freight train derailed south of Sikeston, Mo., on Thursday. Authorities evacuated a two-mile radius due to concerns of a hazardous materials spill. (MARK CROCKER ~ Sikeston Department of Public Safety)

The derailment occurred at 11:50 a.m., said Sgt. Dale Moreland of the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Burlington Northern Santa Fe owns the railroad and the train, which was bound for Minneapolis from Memphis, said BNSF spokesman Steve Forsberg. Forsberg said data on the train's speed had to be downloaded from the train's computer system and won't be available until today.

The hazardous material concern came from the sixth car back from the second engine, a tanker carrying a wood preservative, according to authorities on the scene. Sikeston Department of Public Safety Capt. Jim Hailey said the preservative contained the chemical amine, a compound also used in pesticide. However, the tanker held about 90 percent water, reducing the danger from the amine, Hailey said.

Cars on the track were bunched together like an accordion -- some had left the rail bed completely and some had lost wheels. Some sections of track had been ripped from the rail bed by the force of the derailment. The train's two lead engines were still on the track.

The tanker car was barely visible from the western side of the tracks, where a farmer who owned the land allowed reporters to get close to the derailed train after authorities had issued the all-clear.

As of about 6 p.m. Thursday the cause of the derailment was still undetermined, Forsberg said.

BNSF personnel had just been able to get close enough to begin an assessment of the situation by about 4 p.m.

Roads leading to the area were blocked by the highway patrol as emergency response crews determined whether a chemical spill had occurred. No injuries were reported.

The patrol; Sikeston Department of Public Safety; Southeast Missouri Regional HazMat team members from Sikeston, Jackson and Cape Girardeau; the Cape Girardeau Fire Department; the New Madrid County Sheriff's Department; and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources responded. The Sikeston Department of Public Safety also assessed the scene from the air in a small passenger plane.

By about 3:15 p.m. the site had been cleared and roads in the area opened back up after it was determined none of the chemical had spilled from the tanker. However, Stevens said the massive response was a necessary precaution.

"My main concern was for the safety of the community," Stevens said. While the immediate area of the crash is sparsely populated farm ground the site was only about a mile from Sikeston's southern edge, an area of heavy commercial and some residential development.

Stevens said Thursday's derailment was only the second he'd seen in his 23 years in New Madrid County law enforcement. Stevens said he was glad for the assistance from the regional hazardous materials squad, which was created for these types of situations.

Forsberg said he's not sure when train traffic on the line will be able to resume.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182