“Risk On The Rails:” What's On Our Trains?

[NS Newsfeed]

ELKHART - Julie Ludwig's cafe is just footsteps from one of the busiest railways in Elkhart.



"(Obviously you see your fair share of trains.) All day long," she said.



"(What are you thinking as they're going through?) Sometimes I wonder what's on 'em, what's in 'em," she added.



To get that answer, we approached St. Joe County Emergency Management and Indiana Environmental Management.



Those agencies work with the Indiana transportation department and the rail companies to ensure that the trains are operating safely.



"On the train car itself it tells the car and then it's placarded with something. We have an idea of what's in there," Chazz Taylor with Elkhart Hazmat said.



For example, this rail car obviously stores liquid petroleum gas...it's labeled that way on top.



But there's a sign at the bottom that tells us it's flammable.



And the code, 1075, can be looked up so should it derail, its contents are handled properly.



Many derailments mentioned on TV, like the recent one in West Virginia, involve highly volatile Bakken crude oil from North Dakota.



"What has changed is the quantities that are being shipped. We're seeing trains with sometimes in excess of 3 million gallons of the Bakken crude," John Antonucci of the St. Joe County EMA said.



Norfolk Southern carries a lot of it through Michiana.



We don't know how much exactly...the Department of Homeland Security wouldn't release the totals, citing national security concerns.



As a common carrier, Norfolk Southern doesn't own the cars that ship the oil, but they say they're taking steps to make sure their infrastructure is ready to handle the load.



"If we have to shoulder the responsibility, the obligation to haul hazardous materials, Norfolk Southern wants the safest possible tank car on our network," David Pidgeon of Norfolk Southern said.



When these oil cars reach their destination, and are emptied, everything's all good, right? Well, not so fast.



"Under federal regulations, a tank car is considered empty if it has 10 percent or less volume," on-scene coordinator Rich Hackel said.



When you consider that trains are usually 100 cars long and each tank car carries around 30,000 gallons, that means a train carrying 300,000 gallons of crude could still be considered "empty."



"Well, we try to drill at least once or twice a year on some things," Taylor said.



That's where emergency responders come in.



Elkhart officials participated in oil derailment exercises in Colorado last year...courtesy of the rail companies.



The drills resembled ones conducted in this video.



"I actually applaud the rail companies because they are making every effort to safely transport these products," Antonucci said.



Oil isn't the only hazardous material on our rails.



If a derailment happens...first responders could be dealing with anything.



"They identify the product, find out how bad it is...we look at wind speed and weather conditions," Taylor said.



If there's any danger...responders will react accordingly.



"Shelters would be opened up if they need it. Sometimes we can just evacuate or what we call 'shelter in place.' We can just leave them there and let them know and monitor those areas," Taylor added.