Railyard explosion and inspections raise safety questions about Union Pacific’s hazardous materials shipping

Omaha, Nebraska. (AP) – Federal inspectors twice found hundreds of defects in Union Pacific locomotives and rail cars used at the world’s largest railroad plant in Nebraska, but none of those defects appear to explain why a shipping container filled with toxic acid exploded there this fall.

Investigators have not confirmed the cause of the accident September. 14 explosion In a remote corner of the Bailey Yard Railroad in North Platte, Nebraska, about 250 miles west of Omaha. The explosion did not spread far, but investigators appear to be delving into the questionable decision to load dozens of plastic drums of perchloric acid inside a shipping container with a wooden floor and perhaps wooden pallets overhead, even though that acid is known to react with wood or other organic matter.

“I don’t know if you’ve ever read about perchloric acid, but when it comes into contact with organic materials, it becomes very volatile. It’s very volatile,” said Andy Foust, leader of the largest railroad union in Nebraska that represents workers who were changing rail cars just before the explosion. “This car was doomed from the day it was loaded.”

The explosion not only highlighted potential problems at the sprawling rail yard, but also highlighted the reliance of the national rail network on all involved in shipping hazardous materials taking proper precautions. As the Nebraska explosion demonstrated, there can be problems that are difficult to detect before potentially catastrophic incidents occur.

Some details about the explosion may never be known because the shipping container carrying the acid was destroyed. Federal Railroad Administration spokesman Warren Flatow said, “The leaking acid reacted with the wooden floor of the intermodal container, and any other organic material inside the container (i.e. the pallets).”

The resulting explosion sent shrapnel up to 600 feet away and prompted first responders to evacuate everyone about a mile outside the Railyard. After the first container exploded, a second metal shipping container — believed to contain memory foam — fell on top of it and caught fire, but no other cars caught fire.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told a crowd of Nebraska railroad labor leaders that the explosion could have been much worse and “made national headlines if the wind had blown a little differently or if things had gone a little differently in the yard that day.” . – Very similar to South Norfolk Fire aberration in Eastern Ohio an act.

February derailment – and Others That followed – put the emphasis on Railway safety He demanded Congress And Organizers suggestion Repairswhich it has Pretty much stalled.

Union Pacific never evacuated the Railyard, Foust said. Neighboring workers left the area on their own, but most of the workers at the railyard continued to work. Foust expects that to change because he said UP is reviewing its emergency response plan.

“There was a large portion of that yard that had no idea what was going on, and they were told to keep doing their job,” said Foust, who discussed the explosion with FRA and railroad inspectors and first responders because of his role. With the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transport Workers Union – Transport Section.

Railroad officials said at the time that winds blew smoke away from the facility, and because the track is eight miles (13 kilometers) wide, most UP workers were a safe distance away.

Despite the explosion, the method of loading the 56 barrels of acid did not appear to violate any regulations, so it is possible that such shipping methods existed. A Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration spokesman said: “Since the regulations prohibit any leakage from the packaging, the regulations do not specify the materials to which the drums will be loaded.”

Shippers are required Take necessary precautions when loading hazardous materials, including ensuring that plastic drums do not tip over. Drums used to ship hazardous materials must also undergo extensive testing.

In this case, an FRA spokesperson said investigators were unable to determine what loading precautions were taken because the container was destroyed.

Perchloric acid, used in explosives and some industrial processes, was produced at a company in Ohio that has not been publicly identified. Norfolk Southern transported the acid, then delivered it to Union Pacific. Both railway companies declined to comment on the explosion, citing the ongoing investigation.

Given the timing of the explosion, the leak likely occurred inside UP’s railyard.

Railroads inspect rail cars before they pick them up for mechanical problems or signs of tampering, but assume shippers have packed them properly.

“We’re really counting on them to know best how to mobilize and do it in a safe way, so it won’t be an issue for us,” said North Platte Fire Chief Dennis Thompson, who led the firefighting team. In response to the explosion.

Thompson said the emergency response went smoothly because the weather conditions and location were right, and the railroad informed him within 25 minutes exactly what they were dealing with.

Before the explosion, inspections of the Railyard area in July and August prompted the head of the Financial Supervision Authority to Writing a letter to CEO of UP Pointing out that the defect rate was twice the national average. In September, the week after the explosion, inspectors returned to follow up and uncovered more than 500 additional problems.

Union Pacific CEO Jim Fina said he understands and welcomes the agency’s scrutiny.

Union Pacific and other major railroads have become safer over time, Fina said. But it’s still there More than 1000 deviations Last year, as a train derailment in eastern Palestine showed, just one train accident can be catastrophic if hazardous materials are involved.

“Do we have more to do? Absolutely,” said Fina, who became CEO in August. “And that’s what I challenge the team here at Union Pacific is we have to get better… We’re going to invest in it. We will spend money on technology. “We will spend money on people.”

FRA regulators who oversee inspectors aren’t overly concerned, with the head of the agency’s Office of Rail and Mechanical Infrastructure saying violations are common when he sends out a team.

“We have found no systemic issues that suggest they are operating unsafe equipment that puts the public at risk,” FRA’s Charlie King said.