Rear-end collisions and derailments: What's behind Indiana's costliest hazmat accidents?
Companies transport hazardous materials across Indiana's network of highways and railroads every day, coming close to Hoosiers' homes, businesses and passenger vehicles. Although most shipments arrive to their destination without issue, the state has seen several costly accidents in the last decade — and even the death of a truck driver in 2020.
These are the five worst hazmat transportation accidents in Indiana since 2013:
Mishawaka, Dec. 12, 2018
Damages: $17,017,646
Damages adjusted for inflation: $19,982,566
The state's costliest hazmat accident of the last decade occurred when a concrete mixer truck crashed into the back of a tank trailer carrying over 3,000 gallons of gasoline.
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Fuel spilled onto the intersection of Lincoln Way East and Church Street, as well as into nearby storm basins connected to the city’s sewer pipe system. Good Transportation, the hazmat carrier, estimated at the time of the accident that the cost of clean-up and remediation alone would be $17 million. The rest of the costs were attributed to lost material and damage to the truck.
The fire department evacuated several nearby businesses, but nobody was injured or killed.
Indianapolis, Feb. 20, 2020
Damages: $3,145,075
Damages adjusted for inflation: $3,644,411
Two explosions engulfed a ramp on the east side of Indianapolis in flames when a Jet Star truck carrying aviation fuel rolled over near I-70 and I-465. Eyewitnesses stated that the driver, 59-year-old Jeffery "Duke" Denman, was on fire when he escaped from the truck. Three civilians extinguished the flames on Denman and guided him away from the scene, but he died two weeks later from his injuries.
Fuel flowed into Pleasant Run Creek through the interstate's storm water system. In the week after the accident, ducks in the surrounding area were found covered in jet fuel.
Connersville, June 4, 2013
Damages: $838,500
Damages adjusted for inflation: $1,087,176
A Superior Oil Company truck driving past a residential area veered off the roadway for an unknown reason. Due to the steepness of the ground, the driver lost control and the truck slid into a roadside ditch, hit a drainage pipe and launched onto a driveway.
The cargo tank shell ripped open upon impact with the ground and spilled about 2,500 gallons of paint thinner onto the grass. Emergency responders evacuated eight homes and dug up the impacted soil. The driver survived the crash and was unharmed.
Princeton, June 17, 2018
Damages: $750,000
Damages adjusted for inflation: $897,918
Fire and smoke filled the evening sky when 23 cars of a CSX Transportation freight train derailed in Gibson County. Two cars released more than 60,000 gallons of liquid petroleum and liquid propane just a few thousand feet from Caniff Trailer Court, a mobile home community. The Fire Department evacuated all residents within a one-mile radius.
CSX Transportation stated in an accident report released four months later that a sunkink, or a buckle in the railroad track, caused by hot weather, caused the accident.
Wanatah, March 1, 2021
Damages: $592,500
Damages adjusted for inflation: $664,241
A collision between two trucks once again led to a costly accident, this time in the small town of Wanatah in northern Indiana. A KA Bulk Transport truck was stopped at a railroad crossing when another commercial vehicle struck it from behind. Approximately 5,700 gallons of liquified natural gas spilled as a result.
Contact Dow Jones Fellow Katherine Oung at koung@gannett.com or on Twitter @kathoung.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana's five costliest hazmat accidents of the past decade
