Most of Toxic Chemical Taken From Crash Site : Derailment: Despite progress, officials won’t say when U.S. 101 will reopen, or when beach community residents will be allowed home.

Huge cranes gingerly lifted crushed boxcars from a Southern Pacific train wreck Thursday as workers tried not to disturb a 5,000-gallon tankful of flammable naphthalene that had lain nearby since the weekend derailment forced closure of U.S. 101.

The cranes were moved to the freeway overpass Thursday morning, just hours after workers in white protective suits finished lifting 53 drums of the poisonous chemical hydrazine from the wreck onto a flatbed truck.

Though the cleanup was progressing steadily after several delays, officials refused to predict when the freeway, closed since the wreck Sunday, will reopen or when residents of 49 evacuated houses will be allowed to return.

Traffic between Ventura and Santa Barbara continued to be detoured through the Ojai Valley. In Santa Barbara, organizers expressed concern that the closure could disrupt an annual cultural festival this weekend.

Hot spots of spilled hydrazine remained around the crash site Thursday, but crane operators wearing street clothes worked around the tainted areas. They hoped to clear the tracks and replace twisted rails and splintered ties by the end of the day.

Ventura County firefighters tested the air frequently to make sure no lingering traces of spilled hydrazine threatened the workers’ health.

Throughout the afternoon, cranes loaded ruptured cargo containers onto waiting trucks, while front-end loaders lifted large steel train wheels off the tracks.

As Southern Pacific workers pried ruined rails from the wreck with long crowbars, inspectors from the State Fire Marshal’s Office and federal safety agencies surveyed the naphthalene tank.

Ventura County Fire Capt. Norman Plott said the tank was not leaking, but could explode if it ruptured and ignited while being moved.

Plott stressed that the freeway cannot be reopened, nor can Seacliff residents be allowed to return home, until workers neutralize the remaining hydrazine hot spots and Caltrans inspectors certify that the overpass is safe.

Four rail cars piled up against one of the pilings that support two overpasses still obscured inspectors’ view of possible damage.

Seacliff residents, who were allowed Thursday to go home briefly to feed pets and gather belongings, said they were angered by the delay and frustrated because no one would confirm whether the toxic hydrazine fumes could harm them.

Hydrazine, used to make products ranging from photographs to pharmaceuticals, irritates the eyes and respiratory tract and causes cancer in laboratory animals.

Authorities issued several conflicting reports on the danger of the 440 gallons of hydrazine that spilled from eight ruptured drums, and the 5,000 gallons of liquid naphthalene, an industrial solvent derived from the distillation of coal tar, contained in an unpunctured tank on the same flatbed rail car.

Ventura County fire officials initially said exposure to hydrazine can cause skin irritation, headaches and nausea, only later revealing that inhalation or skin absorption can be lethal. Several cleanup officials claimed the two chemicals react violently if mixed. In fact, chemical experts say, the two are compatible and mixing them poses no fire hazard.

Seacliff resident Tim Carroll, 33, said he is most upset by the risk the spilled hydrazine might have posed to him and his 4-year-old son, Adam. Both were home at the time of the crash Sunday afternoon.

Carroll, wearing ill-fitting clothes he borrowed from a friend after the hurried evacuation, said he is also “really frustrated with having to drag my kid around and staying with friends.”

A musician and part-time carpenter, he said he has missed music and carpentry jobs because he could not get to equipment stored in his garage.

Wayne and Mary Engle, both 53, were at church when the accident occurred.

“I think my concern now is . . . that the community is unaware of what these trains are carrying,” said Wayne Engle as he returned to pick up fresh clothes.

Southern Pacific spokesman Michael Furtney said: “We must move these materials. They’re an integral part of everybody’s life. They’re a fact of life.”

Southern Pacific officials may change some of their safety procedures because of the derailment, Furtney added.

Times correspondent Christopher Pummer contributed this story.

Rail Accidents by the Numbers

Despite rail accidents in California and South Carolina this week, government and railroad industry officials say derailments have declined over the last decade : THE GOVERNMENT:

“Rail safety has improved dramatically in the past dozen years--a decrease of 74% in train accidents and a decrease of 68% in the accident rate.”

--Transportation Secretary Samuel K. Skinner THE INDUSTRY NUMBERS:

The Assn. of American Railroads said that with the exception of an occasional blip, annual accidents have decreased steadily.

Year Derailments Derailments Per Million Miles 1980 6,442 9.88 1990 2,140 3.52

THE ACCIDENTS:

Under government rules, derailments causing more than $5,700 in damage must be reported as accidents. The railroad association said that more than 40% of accidents involve single freight cars moving in freight yards.

SOURCE: Associated Press