20 cars of a Norfolk Southern train derail in Ohio on Saturday
March 5, 2023 Updated Sun., March 5, 2023 at 9:45 a.m.
A Norfolk Southern train derailed in Ohio on Saturday — the second such crash in the state in just over a month — prompting county officials to ask residents within 1,000 feet of the site to shelter in place as investigators assessed the train’s cargo.
No hazardous materials were involved in the derailment, which happened around 4:45 p.m. in Springfield, Ohio, about 80 miles northeast of Cincinnati, according to Thomas A. Crosson, a spokesperson with 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 close to where the train derailed, but it was lifted early Sunday.
County officials said at a news conference that the train had four tankers that carried nonhazardous materials. Two had residual amounts of diesel exhaust fluid, and the other had residual amounts of polyacrylamide water solution. Officials described those as “common industrial products shipped via railroad.”
“A crew from the owner/operator of the railway Norfolk Southern, the Clark County Hazmat team and Ohio Environmental Protection Agency each independently examined the crash site and verified there was no evidence of spillage at the site,” the county said on Facebook.
Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio said on Twitter that state environmental responders were helping firefighters at the scene.
Norfolk Southern has faced scrutiny after the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, last month that led to concerns over the air and water quality after a controlled burning of toxic chemicals that authorities believed were at risk of causing an explosion.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg who has come under fire for his response to the East Palestine crash, said on Twitter that he had been briefed on the derailment in Springfield, and that “no hazardous material release has been reported, but we will continue to monitor closely.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Local journalism is essential.
Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below. Gifts processed in this system are not tax deductible, but are predominately used to help meet the local financial requirements needed to receive national matching-grant funds.
Subscribe now to get breaking news alerts in your email inbox
Get breaking news delivered to your inbox as it happens.