Boomer Bottom Railway Accident

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The scene of the accident

In the railway accident boomers Bottom derailed on 16 February 2015, boomers Bottom , Mount Carbon , Fayette County , West Virginia , USA , cars of a freight train , the crude oil transported, and fell partly into fire .

Starting position

The freight train of CSX Transportation consisted of two diesel locomotives and 109 four-axle tank wagon of the type 1232, with crude oil from fracking -Occurrence in North Dakota were loaded. The train was heading for an oil depot in Yorktown , Virginia . Each of the tank cars had a capacity of 136 cubic meters. The train was traveling in winter conditions with heavy snowfall. The maximum line speed was set at 80 km / h. The train was traveling at a little over 50 km / h at the time of the accident.

the accident

Around 1:30 p.m., 26 of the train's cars derailed . A number of freight cars plunged, a slipped in parallel to the railway line flowing Kanawha River . 14 wagons caught fire, including the one that fell into the river and another that had already seriously damaged a house on the railway line when it derailed.

consequences

The governor of West Virginia declared a state of emergency . A person who inhaled petroleum fumes was injured in the accident . A few hundred residents from several villages in the vicinity of the accident site had to be evacuated and could only return home four days later. In addition, two water treatment plants located near the accident site had to be shut down. However, the authorities claimed that there was no evidence of oil in the water. The accident also damaged an overhead power line, leaving 900 people without electricity. Landstrasse 61 near the accident site also had to be closed. Because of the extent of the damage, the accident also attracted international attention.

Official investigation

The accident was investigated by the Federal Railroad Administration . The National Transportation Safety Board contributed a detailed analysis of the driving behavior of the tankers.

The cause of the derailment was found to be a broken rail , specifically a vertical break in the head of the rail, which split the head lengthways. The rails were checked in this area by the company Sperry Rail Service, commissioned by CSX, which used its own rail testing vehicles. During checks on December 17, 2014 (61 days before the accident) and January 12, 2015 (35 days before), a defect was reported at the point where the rail breakage occurred. In both cases the inspector failed to perform the precise manual inspection required in such cases; he stated that he attributed the instrument display to a rough condition of the rail surface. It was also found that the inspector had worked in the CSX area for 15 years but had never received in-depth training as would have been given to a newly hired employee.

literature

  • Federal Railroad Administration, ACCIDENT FINDINGS REPORT For Derailment of CSX Transportation, Inc.'s Unit Crude Oil Train K08014 Transporting Crude Oil for Plains All American Mount Carbon, West Virginia, October 9, 2015 , Washington DC (Federal Railroad Administration final report on cause of accident , October 9, 2015)

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ In West Virginia, a collective sigh after the chaos . In: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette v. 19th February 2015.
  2. ^ A b c John Raby: West Virginia Train Derailment Sends Oil Tanker Into River . Associated Press / ABC News v. February 16, 2015.
  3. ^ Fiery train crash forces W Virginia towns to evacuate . BBC v. February 16, 2015.
  4. ↑ 5-CSX train hauling North Dakota oil derails, cars ablaze in W. Virginia . In: Reuters v. 17th February 2015.
  5. ^ Huge fire in West Virginia after oil train derails, sending tanker into river . In: The Guardian, February 17, 2015.
  6. ↑ Train hauling crude oil derails and sets wagons ablaze in West Virginia . In The Independent v. 17th February 2015.
  7. ^ A b CSX Oil Train Was Not Speeding in West Virginia Crash, Inquiry Finds . In: The New York Times v. February 20, 2015.
  8. ^ Fireball fills West Virginia sky after oil train crash . In: BBC v. February 18, 2015.
  9. ↑ Mt. Carbon and Adena Village residents authorized to return home .
  10. ↑ Freight train derailed . In: Frankfurter Rundschau v. February 18, 2015, p. 39.

Coordinates: 38 ° 8 ′ 55.4 "  N , 81 ° 17 ′ 34.1"  W.