Train Carrying Fuel Oil Derails, Spills In Mississippi

A Canadian National Railway Co train carrying fuel oil and other hazardous materials derailed and was leaking in southeast Mississippi on Friday, forcing the evacuation of nearby residents, officials said.

No one was injured in the incident which involved the derailment of 21 railcars, eight of which have spilled their contents, a Canadian National Railway spokesman said.

Several of the cars were carrying hazardous materials including fertilizer and methanol, but there was no fire, he said.

The accident, the latest in a string of North American train derailments over the past year, occurred in the city limits of New Augusta in Perry County, near a mobile home park, according to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

Emergency services were on the scene and responding to the accident, local officials said.

Local sheriff Jimmy Dale Smith said that fewer than 20 people have had to be evacuated at last count.

“They’ve got these spills pretty much contained and secured, and we’re working on starting the cleanup process at this point,” Smith said from the scene. “Hopefully we can get everything cleaned up this afternoon and get people in their homes tonight.”

Friday’s accident follows a spate of explosive derailments of trains carrying crude oil over the past year that has raised questions about safety, especially of some older tank cars prone to puncture.

Federal regulators have been studying railcar design and other issues after the accidents, including one last month when a 106-car BNSF Railway Co train carrying crude east crashed into a derailed westbound BNSF grain train near Casselton, North Dakota.

Last July, a runaway oil train derailed and exploded in the center of the Quebec town of Lac-Megantic, killing 47 people.

– See more at: http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/131381/Train_Carrying_Fuel_Oil_Derails_Spills_In_Mississippi?rss=true#sthash.tIl2XdiS.dpuf

6 Comments on "Train Carrying Fuel Oil Derails, Spills In Mississippi"

rollin on Sun, 2nd Feb 2014 12:21 am 



Trains have carried very hazardous material for a long time. As long as we have industrial chemicals and liquid fuels, trains will carry them and occasionally derailments will occur.

Increasing the survivability of tank cars would be one approach to take. They are apparently not strong enough and have valves that are vulnerable.

Plantagenet on Sun, 2nd Feb 2014 12:25 am 



The greenies oppose building oil pipelines…..so the oil travels by train, even though its more dangerous.

Blame this oil spill on Obama and all the other greenies who have delayed the Keystone XL pipeline.

DC on Sun, 2nd Feb 2014 1:17 am 



The tar-sanders and there oily syncophants are not having a good time of it lately are they? Accidents and spills abound. Even all the feel-good talk about ‘energy independence’ and 1000s of years of uninterrupted tar-sands and paint-thinner powered bliss cant compete…

GregT on Sun, 2nd Feb 2014 6:25 am 



Those damn greenies, once again, all they seem to care about is the environment, and that other just as equally frivolous concept. Life. Bring on the pipelines, bring on human technological progress, bring on capitalism and wanton greed.

Who gives a crap about the future, we’ll be dead by then anyways.

Northwest Resident on Mon, 3rd Feb 2014 3:20 am 



For a lot of people posting on the internet at places like this and other blogs, just about everything going bad is Obama’s fault. I’ve read articles that claim Obama is personally in command of destroying America purposely to bring on a collapse, and a lot of people posting on those articles in total agreement. Interesting phenomenon.

GregT on Mon, 3rd Feb 2014 6:05 am 



If it wasn’t Obama, it would be Bush, Nixon, Kerry, or whatever other president du jour. A lot of people appear to be very limited in scope.