Hazmat team finishes work on rail car that leaked dangerous chemical

PERRIS (CNS) – A county hazmat team finished its work at a railroad
tank car that overheated and leaked a potentially explosive chemical near
Perris and the site was turned over to the property owner, fire officials said
today.

The Riverside County Fire Department reported that it relieved all
personnel that had responded to the chemical spill, which prompted a freeway
closure and the evacuation of more than 170 homes and businesses earlier this
week.

On Saturday, authorities canceled all evacuation orders after it was
determined that the leak did not pose an imminent threat.

The spill at Harvill and Oleander avenues was first reported around
7:30 p.m. Thursday and led to the closure of Interstate 215 south of Van Buren
Avenue and north of the Ramona Expressway.

Harvill Road was closed, and evacuations were ordered north of Markham
Street, east of Donna Lane, south of Nandina Avenue and west of Patterson
Avenue, the fire department reported.

Officials said the insulated train car was holding approximately
138,000 pounds of styrene that had heated up to over 300 degrees, nearly four
times the temperature the chemical is supposed to be stored at. It was unclear
how much of the chemical leaked out of the train car.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
styrene is used to make latex, synthetic rubber and polystyrene resins. These
resins are used to make plastic packaging, disposable cups and containers,
insulation and other products.

Authorities were initially worried that the chemical could potentially
explode if it were to overheat, and evacuation orders and warnings were
issued within a roughly half-mile radius of the leaking rail car.

“This could resolve itself in two days, but it could get worse before
it gets better,” Cal Fire Division Chief John Crater said Friday morning.

“They’ve also said due to the heat building in the car, that builds pressure
and it could have a release, meaning some sort of violent explosion. That’s why
we’re taking an abundance of caution with this.”

On Friday, the temperature of the railroad tank car had begun to come
down after emergency crews located and used the train’s cooling mechanism. By
11:35 p.m., the unified incident commanders of what was dubbed the Oleander
Incident lifted all evacuation warnings and most of the evacuation orders,
except for two homes. The I-215 was also reopened in both directions.

All remaining evacuation orders were lifted by 9 a.m. Saturday and
fire officials said the evacuation shelter opened at Pinacate Middle School in
Perris would be closing.

Metrolink officials said train service remained suspended through
Sunday between the Perris South and Downtown Riverside stations and that no
alternate service would be provided.
The cause of the leak remains under investigation, though authorities
suspect the railroad tank car overheated because of a stabilizing chemical
injected into the styrene that failed to work properly.
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City News Service (CNS)