Just five days after a CSX train car carrying acrylonitrile derailed in Maryville, Tenn. and caught on fire, four CSX train cars carrying mixed freight derailed and flipped over in the Berry Hill neighborhood of South Nashville on the evening of July 6, 2015.
The CSX train serving the Nashville area had two locomotives and 35 rail cars. Three of the four derailed cars were carrying polypropylene beads used for packaging and the other was carrying sheet steel.
CSX representatives, Nashville police and fire departments and other local authorities responded to the scene.
On July 7, all cars in the Nashville derailment were re-railed by 6:30 a.m., CSX said. Normal train operations resumed through the area by 7:00 a.m. The cause of the derailment is still under investigation but no injuries have been reported.
Following the July 2 Maryville derailment, in which one of 57 cars being pulled by two locomotives en route from Cincinnati, Ohio to Waycross, Ga., the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was notified and local authorities evacuated a 1.5-mile radius around the derailment, impacting up to 5,000 residents. On-scene coordinators along with an EPA emergency response contractor mobilized to conduct air monitoring and water quality monitoring due to the site’s close proximity to Culton Creek. A reported 12 responders were hospitalized with exposure symptoms, EPA said.
As of July 3, CSX says it had completed the majority of the excavation of impacted soils; the soils will be disposed of in an EPA approved landfill. The excavated area had also been backfilled with clean soil. Air, water and soil sampling continues in coordination with federal, state and local officials. No adverse effects to air or well water have been detected.
As of July 6, following track restoration and inspections, CSX resumed normal train operations through the area. The investigation into the derailment, however, continues in coordination with the Federal Railroad Administration. No injuries were reported.