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Clean-up after 17 train cars derailed in Donaldsonville will be 'several-day' process
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DONALDSONVILLE - Seventeen cars of a train derailed at a major intersection in Donaldsonville Friday morning, leaking a chemical used to stabilize chlorine used in swimming pools.
Officials say the clean-up process will take several days.
The roadway was reopened at LA 3089 and LA 70 after being closed for hours while crews worked to address the temporary blockage. The train cars derailed around 7 a.m., Union Pacific Railroad said.
The Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office went on to say there were no injuries and no hazardous materials to be concerned about.
“There's no leakage that is posing any threat to Donaldsonville at this time, everyone is safe," said Donaldsonville Mayor Leroy Sullivan.
According to markings on the train cars, they are used to carry propylene — an agent in rubber production — sulfuric acid and refrigerated oxygen, none of which are inherently harmful. According to Union Pacific, cyanuric acid — a chemical used in herbicides and chlorine bleach — was released from three tank cars and efforts are underway to neutralize the acid.
"There is only a white powder substance on the ground that is non-hazardous made to make medicine," Commander Cody Melancon with the Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office's Hazardous Materials team said.
Melancon added that deputies are working with the State Police's hazmat team and Union Pacific to clean up the scene of the train derailment.
It was not immediately clear what led to the derailment. Though the crash happened near the campus of Donaldsonville Primary School, officials told WBRZ there was no immediate danger to the school and that the campus would resume normal operations for the day.
“Just looking at the rails you can see the rails themselves are compromised themselves but there's no given word on what happened,” Sullivan said.
Deputies with the APSO said the situation would take several days to clean up, but iterated that the area was safe and there was no immediate threat to the community.
“We just got to get the rail cars back on the tracks and get the site cleaned up as soon as possible,” Melancon said.
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