Graniteville railway accident

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Aerial view of the scene of the accident
Close up

The Graniteville railway accident occurred on January 6, 2005 in the US city of Graniteville, South Carolina .

Course of events

The accident occurred at about 2:40 at night when two trains of the Norfolk Southern near the textile factory Avondale Mills collided in Graniteville. One train with the number P22 was parked on a siding near the factory. Because a switch was not placed on the main track, contrary to the regulations, the second train with the number 192, which had chlorine , sodium hydroxide and cresols loaded, was also directed to the siding and collided with the train standing there. In the collision, the two locomotives and 16 of the 42 cars on train 192 derailed, as did the locomotive and one of the two cars on train P22. One of the tank trucks on train No. 192 filled with chlorine gas tore apart and released around 82 tons of gas into the area. Ten people died (nine at the time of the accident and one a little later from inhaling chlorine) and around 250 people were treated for chlorine poisoning.

5,400 residents who lived within a mile of the scene of the accident were evacuated for just under two weeks, during which the site was decontaminated.

The victims include the driver of the approaching train and six Avondale Mills employees.

Economic consequences

Norfolk Southern Corporation announced the costs of the accident with 30 to 40 million dollars before taxes. This included the costs not covered by the insurance and the deductible. In addition, there are the expected fines.

On May 25, 2005, several lawyers announced that a preliminary agreement had been reached with Norfolk Southern regarding those who had to be evacuated from the accident but who did not require medical treatment. In that agreement, Norfolk Southern promised to pay each resident $ 2,000 for evacuation and an additional $ 200 for each day. Any claims arising from damage to property are independent of this. This agreement also did not regulate compensation for injury or death.

Avondale Mills closed due to the railway accident the following year.

Findings and recommendations

On November 29, 2005, the National Transportation Safety Board released its official report. It was found that the main cause was the failure to reset the switch to the main line. It was also found that neither the failure of a machine nor the fatigue of the crew or drug or alcohol abuse were an accident factor. It was determined that the emergency measures taken were correct and appropriate.

As a result of this accident and a less serious one on January 8 at the BNSF Railway , the United States Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) issued a number of federal regulations governing the operation of switches and safety devices. For turnouts, these included the following:

  • The normal position of points on main lines must be set for traffic on the main track.
  • Train personnel who switch points may only report that the tracks have been cleared when there are no more obstacles on the main track and the points have been reset and secured.

Further recommendations by the FRA concerned the companies:

  • It must be ensured that the internal regulations on safety procedures for turnouts are adapted accordingly.
  • Written evidence of sufficient control of the point position must be prepared before a main line is released again.

Others

On May 24, 2005, Norfolk Southern received the TRANSCAER National Achievement Award 2004. TRANSCAER is an acronym for Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response . This is a campaign that advocates the establishment of an emergency standby service to provide the communities with initial information in the event of accidents involving chemicals. Part of the decision to award the award to Norfolk Southern was to conduct training for the emergency response service in 18 of the 22 states through which the rail company transports dangerous goods.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Avondale Mills Closes Doors, Sells Some Facilities , July 23, 2006
  2. ^ A. Dunning, Jennifer Oswalt: Train Wreck and Chlorine Spill in Graniteville, South Carolina: Transportation Effects and Lessons in Small-Town Capacity for No-Notice Evacuation . In: Transportation Research Record : Journal of the Transportation Research Board . No. 2009 , 2007, p. 130-135 , doi : 10.3141 / 2009-17 ( PDF ).
  3. ^ Collision of Norfolk Southern Freight Train 192 With Standing Norfolk Southern Local Train P22 With Subsequent Hazardous Materials Release. National Transportation Safety Board , January 6, 2005, accessed January 2, 2012 (abstract).
  4. ^ Collision of Norfolk Southern Freight Train 192 With Standing Norfolk Southern Local Train P22 With Subsequent Hazardous Materials Release. (PDF, 1.3 MB) National Transportation Safety Board , June 15, 2006, accessed January 1, 2012 (English, detailed report).

literature

Web links

Coordinates: 33 ° 33 ′ 44 "  N , 81 ° 48 ′ 31"  W.