Train hazmat spill forces Kentucky families from home on Thanksgiving
MOUNT VERNON, Ky. — Livingston area families spent Thanksgiving day in hotels after a CSX train derailed, spilling hazardous chemicals that forced the evacuation of the town, which is south of Lexington and surrounded by the Daniel Boone National Forest.
A total of 16 cars derailed in Rockcastle County early Wednesday afternoon, CSX said, with molten sulfur spilling from two of them. The derailment caused a fire that continued to burn into Thanksgiving. Two cars carrying magnesium hydroxide had no indication of a breach, according to CSX.
No one was injured, the company said.
The fire was extinguished Thursday afternoon, CSX said, announcing at 4 p.m. that residents could begin returning to their homes.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection were both on-site and monitoring for sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and other air emissions. They said they found “adverse readings” near the site and in Livingston following the crash, but there have been no detectable readings since early Thursday morning in Livingston and since early afternoon in the area immediately around the incident site.
Exposure to sulfur dioxide has an array of health impacts, including irritation to the skin, eyes, nose, throat and lungs, as well as potential decreased fertility.
Workers are now cleaning up the site, the company said, and the cause of the derailment is under investigation.
Air monitoring will continue 24/7 until the cleanup is complete.
More: Huge amounts of hazardous materials pass through Midwest every day. How safe are residents?
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear ordered a state of emergency Wednesday afternoon, and residents in and around Livingston, a town of 165 people, were evacuated.
Some people chose to stay in their homes but 112 people and 40 pets were evacuated, said Joe McCann, CSX's director of emergency management and hazardous materials. They were put up in hotels outside of Livingston. CSX said it will reimburse residents for out-of-pocket expenses and wage losses; they can call 800-805-9840.
Connor Giffin is an environmental reporter for The Courier Journal and a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. The program funds up to half of corps members’ salaries, but requires a portion also be raised through local community fundraising. To support local environmental reporting in Kentucky, tax-deductible donations can be made at courier-journal.com/RFA.
Learn more about RFA at reportforamerica.org. Reach Connor directly at cgiffin@gannett.com or on X @byconnorgiffin.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Train derailment causes chemical spill, evacuations near Livingston
