US: Norfolk Southern freight train derails again in Ohio

Officials in the US state of Ohio informed the public there is no safety risk to public health following the latest derailment of a Norfolk Southern cargo train between Dayton and Columbus.

It is the second time the company's freight trains have derailed in the state in the last month.

Roughly 20 of the 212 cars on the southbound train derailed at 4:45 p.m. local time Saturday (2145 GMT/UTC) near a business park in Springfield Township. The accident site is near the Clark County fairgrounds and is approximately 46 miles (74 kilometers) west of Columbus, the capital of the state of Ohio.

Residents asked to shelter in place

Residents who lived within 1,000 feet of the site were ordered to shelter in place as firefighters and a county hazardous materials team was deployed in the area as a precaution.

By early Sunday, officials said the threat to the public was nil and there was "no indication of any injuries."

Crews from the freight company, the hazardous materials teams as well as the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency backed the claim.

Of the tankers that were involved in the derailment, two were carrying residual amounts of diesel exhaust fluid while another two had residual amounts of polyacrylamide water solution. The latter the officials described as a "common industrial products shipped via railroad."

Late Saturday, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said President Biden along Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg had phoned "to offer help from the federal government."

East Palestine derailment fuels political attacks on Biden

Last month, on February 3, a freight rail from Norfolk Southern derailed in the town of East Palestine, Ohio. Several of the 38 cars involved in that derailment were carrying hazardous materials.

About half of the town of East Palestine, population 5,000, had to be evacuated following that accident.

Residents worry now about the long-term health effects after authorities determined the best was to organize a controlled burn of the site, as there was no effective clean up solutions for the hazardous dump. Millions of pounds of toxic chemicals were pumped into the atmosphere from the ground.

The US Environmental Protection Agency demanded that the freight rail company pay the entire cost of the cleanup of the East Palestine derailment and chemical burn.

East Palestine is about 180 miles (290 kilometers) northeast of the latest derailment.

Republicans have used the rail incident to attack US President Joe Biden, a train aficionado who regularly took the Amtrak home to Delaware from Washington D.C. when he served as a US Senator.

ar/jcg (AP, Reuters)