CHEMICALS SPILLED IN DERAILMENT 19,500 GALLONS LOST IN MOUNTAIN TUNNEL

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, February 15, 1993                   TAG: 9302150037
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: GATE CITY                                LENGTH: Medium
CHEMICALS SPILLED IN DERAILMENT 19,500 GALLONS LOST IN MOUNTAIN TUNNEL
A CSX train derailed in a mountain tunnel, spilling about 19,500 gallons of a nontoxic chemical that turned streams milky white, authorities said Sunday.
The freight train derailed about 10 a.m. Saturday in the Clinch Mountain Tunnel, CSX Transportation and Scott County officials said. No one was injured, they said.
Authorities do not know what caused the derailment, and emergency crews were trying to clean up the spill Sunday, said Capt. Charles W. Elliott of the county Sheriff's Department.
The liquid polystyrene spilled into tributaries of the Clinch and Holston rivers, Elliott said. The rivers run through Southwest Virginia and Tennessee.
"The problem is that it's inside the mountain. It can go either way," he said. Elliott said he was told by emergency crews that there were no fish kills.
The train was traveling from Waycross, Ga., to Cincinnati when it derailed, said Gary Sease, a spokesman for CSX Transportation in Jacksonville, Fla.
Four of the 20 cars flipped over, Sease said. One of the cars that turned over was punctured and spilled the chemical, Lytron, which is a concentrated, liquid pigment used to coat candy wrappers, he said.
State and local emergency crews could only contain 500 gallons of the 20,000 gallons of the chemical that was in the tank car, Sease said.
The chemical is approved by the Food and Drug Administration and is not known to harm humans, he said.
"Lytron is not hazardous, but it's known to turn things white," said Michael LaCivita, a spokesman for the Virginia Department of Emergency Services. "They are trying to contain the spill in a sand pit from a construction site. Luckily, someone was doing construction there."
Area residents were warned not to drink well water, said Barbara Edwards, deputy director of county emergency services. They also were told to keep livestock away from streams and rivers.
The chemical is marketed by Morton International of Greenville, S.C., Edwards said.
The rail line going through the mountain tunnel usually has heavy traffic, Sease said. Traffic was being rerouted onto Norfolk Southern lines, he said.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB