Tanker leaks 7,000 gallons of N in rail wreck

Dallas, Texas-Union Pacific officials are still investigating what happened late Nov. 24 when 12 railcars one of them a 20,000-gallon fertilizer tanker jumped the tracks near downtown Dallas and tied up freeway traffic for hours. Dallas Fire-Rescue said the fertilizer car and two other tankers rolled down an embankment on the north side of the tracks while the other cars had just come off the tracks and were re-railed. The entire train consisted of six locomotives and 58 cars in tow. According to Fire-Rescue Spokesman Jason Evans, “Our primary concern was preventing any runoff of the liquid fertilizer to the storm water drains. So they established a perimeter downstream of the leak and built a dam of absorbent to stop it. The storm water department was also notified to assist in managing the situation.” Evans said there were no reported injuries as a result of the accident. Raquel Espinoza-Williams, spokeswoman for UP’s southern region, said 7,000 gallons of liquid nitrogen spilled out of the tanker. “Our HazMat team responded immediately and transloaded the solution onto another railcar. The nitrogen fertilizer solution spilled onto a concrete parking lot and did not affect any soil. Crews vacuumed and properly disposed of the solution that was picked up,” Espinoza-Williams reported. She said the other two tankers carried cooking oil and plastic pellets. Three nearly empty tankers had residual amounts of methyl mercattan, but none of it was released.