TRAIN DERAILMENT NEAR JERICHO • Twenty-four train cars derailed in Juab County on Saturday releasing unknown quantities of propane. In the inset photo, crews detonate train cars in cleanup of derailed Union Pacific train. Photos courtesy of Deseret News & Juab County Sheriff’s Office
By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
A Union Pacific mixed-freight train derailment of 24 cars in the area known as Jericho, about six miles south of Eureka, caused the release of an unknown quantity of propane from the overturned cars. The Environmental Protection Agency announced plans Sunday to use explosives to blow up the derailed train cars in Juab County and remotely ignite the liquids that were released. The EPA made the decision due to the danger to emergency responders posed by some of the tanker cars that derailed, according to a statement the EPA released. Chief Deputy Brent Pulver with the Juab County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that the operation took place around 9:30 p.m. Sunday. “A large fireball lit up the sky,” said Pulver, “and the plan is to let it burn overnight and start removing metal and clearing the tracks Monday morning.” The controlled detonation involved eleven cars, nine full of propane and two with biodiesel fuel. “On March 30, 2019, at 9:06 a.m., a Union Pacific train, comprising of 165 cars, derailed while traveling southwest, nearly adjacent to milepost #124.5 on State Road 6,” said Douglas Anderson, Juab County Sheriff. “Of the 165 cars, 24 cars derailed off the track and the other cars stayed upright and intact,” he said. “Of the 24 cars that were derailed, nine of those cars were tankers and were carrying phosphoric acid, bio diesel and other materials classified as non-hazardous,” said Anderson. The first crews on scene requested additional assistance, prompting a 13-agency response. Anderson said that approximately 60 responders from various locations throughout the state made an initial response to stabilize the scene of the accident. “Since the initial response, several agencies have been involved to make a safe resolution,” he said. “There were several agencies throughout the state that comprised local fire, E.M.S., law enforcement and emergency management agencies, hazardous material response teams, Utah State Fire Marshal’s Office, U.S.E.P.A., Federal Railroad Administration, Union Pacific personnel, including Union Pacific law enforcement and Union Pacific contractors, the Utah National Guard civil support team, American Red Cross and various other volunteer and support organizations.” Two people, the conductor and engineer, were on the train at the time of the derailment but neither of them were injured. The Utah Department of Environmental Quality was notified of the incident Saturday and a special response team was dispatched to help mitigate the hazardous materials the train was carrying. “The train was carrying a variety of chemicals that were both volatile and flammable,” said Anderson. “Those chemicals were contained and separated from one another to reduce the volatility.” The response team decided the safest way to neutralize the danger was “to intentionally breach and thermally treat each of the propane and diesel cars using explosive charges and remotely ignite the liquid that is released.” The entire statement released by the EPA reads as follows: “Several local Fire Departments, EMS, Law Enforcement, Utah County Emergency Management, the American Red Cross, the State of Utah’s Fire Marshall’s Office, National Guard Civil Support Team, Union Pacific, various Union Pacific response contractors, Federal Railroad Administration and USEPA all responded to the incident. The phosphoric acid car was pulled away from the other cars and the leaking diesel fuel was contained. The primary concern of the response team are the propane cars which show signs of instability and present a danger to the responders. A specialized team has been mobilized to intentionally breach and thermally treat each of the propane and diesel cars using explosive charges and remotely ignite the liquid that is released. This activity is tentatively planned for March 31, 2019.” “We are a small office,” said Anderson, “but this incident is a collective. It’s a unified command structure to help deal with an emergency of this magnitude.” Juab County fire officials collected air samples and the railroad sent its own hazardous materials response team to the site, according to the state report. The Environmental Protection Agency said Sunday that “at least one of the diesel cars and several of the propane cars have breached and are leaking.” Crews detected a strong smell of propane shortly after arriving on scene on Saturday. “Investigators on the scene detected another chemical smell in the air as well, and tried to determine what it was,” said Lt. Travis Kenison with the Juab County Sheriff’s Office. “There was no public threat to people in the Little Sahara Recreation Area,” said Kenison. With so many cars derailed, it took some time to figure out the various commodities that were being transported to assess the level of risk to the public, Anderson said. “We’ve spent quite a bit of time separating and clearing the cars to keep materials from possibly mixing,” Anderson said, “and there is no risk to the public at this time.” He said Union Pacific officials are at the scene investigating the cause of the derailment. Anderson said the cleanup will continue for several more days. He said that for more information and explanation of the safe resolution of the emergency incident to refer to the following website: www.response.epa.gov/juabcountyderailment.
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