Bullitt County, Ky derailment could cost CSX $10 million

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By Dylan T. Lovan
ASSOCIATED PRESS

BROOKS KY (AP) -- The derailment of a CSX train south of Louisville two weeks
ago, which ignited chemical fires and also forced evacuations, could cost the
company more than $10 million, a spokesman said yesterday.

That amount includes damage to the railroad, the environmental price tag and
personal claims from residents, CSX spokesman Gary Sease said.

Although no one was seriously injured in the Jan. 16 derailment, about 15
families were still shut out of their homes. The derailment caused fires on
several cars and sent a trail of thick black smoke into the sky over homes and
businesses in northern Bullitt County.

Some utilities have not been restored to the homes, and congestion from heavy
equipment at crash scene continues to keep residents out, said Sherryl
Carbonaro, a spokeswoman for the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

"There's so much equipment down there it's not really that safe," Carbonaro
said. "Also, there's no water to some of the homes, and there's no gas to some
of the homes."

CSX planned to close a community outreach center yesterday. Residents had been
offered $100 checks if they could demonstrate they were inconvenienced by the
derailment, Sease said.

Sease said the center was seeing up to 1,500 people a day at the height of the
payments. He said the company will still be in contact with residents who have
major claims against CSX.

"We are going to shift the bulk of our resources and attention to those
outstanding claims and the care and support of those displaced families," Sease
said.

The train was carrying a number of hazardous chemicals, much of which
firefighters allowed to burn so that rail cars could be moved off the site. CSX
crews excavated 4,500 tons of contaminated earth from around the site.

Sease said workers have removed about 200,000 gallons of wastewater that
contained chemicals spilled in the derailment. The chemicals onboard the train
when it derailed were cyclohexane, methyl ethyl ketone, butadiene and alcohol,
according to CSX. About 1,000 soil and water samples have been taken in the
area, he said.

"There will be sampling and monitoring of this area for quite some time," Sease
said.
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Media Newswire:

http://media-newswire.com/release_1042431.html

EPA Enters Environmental Assessment Phase at CSX Train Derailment in Bullitt
County, Kentucky

(Media-Newswire.com) - (ATLANTA ? January 29, 2007) EPA announced today that it
is transitioning operations from an emergency response to an environmental
assessment phase at the January 16, 2007 CSX Transportation ( CSXT ) Bullitt
County, Ky. train derailment incident in order to evaluate the nature and
extent of contamination arising from the release of hazardous substances as a
result of the derailment. The environmental investigation will be conducted in
parallel with ongoing response actions initiated in the immediate aftermath of
the derailment, including the cleanup of surface water and shorelines at
several locations along Clear Run Creek and Bluelick Creek.

CSXT, which is performing the environmental investigation, has submitted
sampling and analysis plans to EPA and the Kentucky Department of Environmental
Protection, who are acting jointly to oversee the work performed by CSXT. The
sampling includes an assessment of the potential for releases from the
derailment and their possible affect on shallow groundwater and soils in the
immediate vicinity of the wreck site. The work being performed by CSXT is a
time-critical removal action, which is intended to stabilize conditions that
may pose immediate threats to human health or the environment.

The emergency response action occurred as a result of a CSXT train derailment
involving 13 tank cars in Brooks, Bullitt County, Ky., approximately 25 miles
south of Louisville, Ky. The product cars contained a variety of flammable
liquids, gases, and solid materials, including, 1,3-butadiene, cyclohexane,
methyl ethyl ketone, and maleic anhydride. The incident resulted in homes being
evacuated within a one-mile radius of the derailment. Residents in 15 homes
remain evacuated at this time.