Derailment Leads to Fuel Spill in Compton
An engine and one car of a Union Pacific freight train derailed Thursday in Compton, puncturing a fuel tank and spilling 4,000 gallons of diesel fuel near a stream, Compton officials said.
No one was injured in the 11 a.m. accident at Carob Street and Willowbrook Avenue, “and fortunately, the Compton Fire Department was able to contain the spillage and prevent it from seeping into the Compton Creek wildlife area,” said city spokesman Frank Wheaton. “They accomplished this by plugging a dike in the creek.”
Compton Mayor Omar Bradley was irate over what he called only the latest in a series of train wrecks and chemical spills in a city with “too many huge trains barreling through it.”
“Thank God the doggone thing went into a creek this time,” he said, instead of something worse.
The cause of the derailment was under investigation, said Sheriff’s Sgt. Mark Saldecke.
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