Train Car Is Detonated as Evacuations Continue

Technicians on Monday detonated a train tanker car full of hazardous acid to ward off a more damaging explosion and evacuated about 200 more people living near the site of a weekend derailment.

The Union Pacific Railroad tanker was one of 30 that derailed Saturday and one of several loaded with hazardous chemicals. It had yet to spring a leak, but heat from small fires still burning around the derailed rail cars could have raised the pressure inside the acrylic acid-filled tank, officials said.

Acrylic acid has vapors that can irritate the lungs, nose and throat. Other chemicals on the train could cause dizziness, convulsions, lung irritation and even death if people come in contact with large amounts, officials said.

Monday’s evacuations, prompted by shifting winds, brought the total to about 2,000. Evacuees will not be allowed to return home until it is certain that the cars are safe, officials said.

“Until we can get in there and crews can analyze the status of the other cars, we really don’t have a timeline on it,” said Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis.

Evacuees said they were told it could be days before they are allowed to return.

No injuries were reported from the derailment, which sparked several chemical blasts that sent fire balls skyward and shattered glass a quarter-mile away.

As of early Monday, state police said air-monitoring equipment hadn’t picked up any hazardous levels of chemicals.

One lawsuit has been filed against Union Pacific. Eunice lawyer Timmy J. Fontenot said a state court representative agreed to a special Sunday meeting to receive the document.

The lawsuit, seeking unspecified damages and class-action status, alleges the railroad’s negligence caused “considerable fear, anguish, discomfort and inconvenience for the populace of Eunice.”

“These tankers brought these chemicals into the town where I live, and it was a terrible thing that happened,” Fontenot said. “I’m in a position to rectify it.”