Safely handling hazardous chemicals from trains
Ever wonder what trains bring through the city? And what if Saturday’s incident were to bring in more of a disaster than it did?
A derailed locomotive leaked an estimated 3,500 gallons of diesel fuel in the Union Pacific rail yard in Pocatello. The incident happened just before 11 p.m. Saturday, but wasn’t reported until Monday.
According to a Pocatello Fire Department news release, crews applied patching and plugging materials to the fuel tank after it had emptied itself.
Local, state and federal hazardous materials teams reviewed the situation and determined Union Pacific crews could clean up the incident.
There were no reported injuries and an estimate of damage was unavailable.
Officials of the Pocatello Fire Department have shared their safety measures on how to prevent hazardous incidents at the railroads. And what they’ll do if they should ever occur.
“Basically is what we do is, we would put on protective equipment and then use wedges or patches or something to stop the leak, and preventing it from getting any worst. From there, that’s when the company would bring in the clean-up crew and take it from there,” said Capt. Shane Grow of the Pocatello Fire Dept.
Grow says derailments don’t happen often in this city, but when they do, Union Pacific or any other company is good about contacting them immediately. And also getting the word out to the community if needed.
