Rail car leaks small amount of chemical
Published on March 14th, 2008 - Nadine Parks of the Post and Courier

A small amount of a hazardous material leaked from a rail car Thursday night in an industrial area of North Charleston.

An employee working at the Norfolk Southern rail yard at the end of Piggly Wiggly Drive was overcome by a vapor about 6:15 p.m., Fire Department Battalion Chief Eric Phillips said.

The man drove himself to the emergency room at Roper St. Francis Medical Center Northwoods, where he was treated and released.

Firefighters discovered that a rail car had leaked Cresol, a liquid chemical used to make pesticides, according to Thom Berry, media director for the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.

The 90-ton rail car holds a maximum of 30,000 gallons of the chemical, which is kept heated so it won't solidify, Berry said.

About 15 firefighters and a hazmat team from North Charleston Fire Department were on the scene for several hours. At 10:45 p.m., firefighters in protective gear approached the rail car and found that the chemical had leaked down the side, but they found no source.

No one was evacuated from the area, and the public was not in any danger, Phillips said. Berry said authorities were mostly concerned about the potential for fire. The chemical is flammable and could produce an irritating and poisonous gas if ignited.

Perry Yarborough, DHEC's emergency response coordinator for the region, said less than 5 gallons of the chemical had leaked onto the side of the rail car. It might have leaked through a gasket on a cover at the top of the tank, he said.

"It had already begun to solidify," he said. "It's almost like molasses." Charlotte-based environmental cleanup company Hepaco has a crew on the scene to check the fittings and gaskets to make sure no more of the chemical leaks out.

Yarborough said the company would use absorbent pads to remove the chemical from the side of the car. "It could've been worse," he said.