A Norfolk Southern train derailed in Ohio on Saturday — the second such accident in the state in just over a month — prompting county officials to ask residents within 1,000 feet of the site to take shelter in their site while investigators assessed the train’s load.
No hazardous materials were involved in the derailment, which happened about 4:45 p.m. in Springfield, Ohio, about 80 miles northeast of Cincinnati, according to Thomas A. Crosson, a spokesman for Norfolk Southern, which operated the train
There were no reports of injuries, Crosson said. About 20 cars of the 212-car train derailed, he added.
Clark County issued a shelter-in-place order for residents near where the train derailed, but it was lifted early Sunday.
County officials said at a news conference that the train had four tankers carrying non-hazardous materials. Two had residual amounts of diesel exhaust fluid and the other had residual amounts of polyacrylamide water solution. Officials described them as “common industrial products shipped by rail.”
“A crew from railroad owner/operator Norfolk Southern, the Clark County Hazmat team and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency independently examined the crash site and verified that there were no signs of spill at the site,” the county said on Facebook.
Governor Mike DeWine of Ohio he said on Twitter that state environmental officers were assisting firefighters at the scene.
Norfolk Southern has faced scrutiny after the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, last month that raised concerns about air and water quality following a controlled burn of products toxic chemicals that authorities believed were at risk of causing an explosion.
Pete Buttigieg, the transport secretary, who has been criticized for his response to the East Palestine crash, he said on Twitter that the derailment in Springfield had been reported and that “no release of hazardous material has been reported, but we will continue to monitor closely.”
