Houston-Twenty-nine of 116 cars, including five carrying ammonium nitrate, derailed shortly before noon Monday, Nov. 23, on a westbound Union Pacific (UP) freight train, tying up rail and highway traffic and tearing up large sections of track. UP officials said by the next day traffic was restored on one of the lines, but reports indicated that cleaning up the site in southwest Houston could take more than a week. There were no injuries, but highway traffic was diverted for hours in both northbound and southbound lanes. Some parts remained closed for more than a day. UP spokeswoman Raquel Espinoza told Green Markets that at least five cars on the train were carrying ammonium nitrate and one of the five remained on the tracks. She said cleanup crews had repaired 1,000 feet of torn-up track and had restored traffic on one of the lines, and that the other was expected to be open sometime on Tuesday. Late last Tuesday, 22 cars had been removed from the area and seven remained at the site. “We plan to off-load seven railcars before we move them, a process that can take up to 14 hours. We can’t move the ammonium nitrate cars until we properly remove the product,” said Espinoza. “We are working with local authorities and taking all the precautionary measures to assure that this is safely carried out.” Several of the upended cars carried petroleum coke, and some of the contents spilled onto the westbound lanes of the adjoining highway. Tanker cars also were involved, but Espinoza didn’t know about the contents. Two nearby elementary schools were put on “shelter-in-place” notice. Espinoza said the cause of the derailment is still under investigation.
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