A Norfolk Southern train carrying diesel fuel derailed outside of Jasper, Alabama this weekend, briefly trapping two of the crew members.
QUICK FACTS:
- Another Norfolk Southern train derailed on Saturday, this time right outside of Jasper Alabama.
- The train, reportedly containing diesel fuel, rolled over onto its side, briefly trapping two of the train’s crew members and spilling the oil.
- “According to Norfolk Southern, the train crew was briefly trapped in the engine room because the engine tilted over. There were no major injuries, but RPS was called to the scene to evaluate the crew and transported two crew members as a precaution,” Jasper Police wrote in a statement.
- Police said “all personnel” was called in to assist the crew in getting out of the train and Norfolk Southern remained on the scene “to return the track to service.”
NORFOLK SOUTHERN ON THE MOST RECENT TRAIN DERAILMENT:
“During the derailment, the locomotive rolled onto its side and as a result spilled some diesel fuel and engine oil,” Norfolk Southern commented.
BACKGROUND:
- In February 2023, a group of East Palestine, Ohio residents filed a class action lawsuit against Norfolk Southern after a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed and released a toxic plume of chemicals over the town, according to a lawsuit.
- The lawsuit invoked the legal doctrine of “public nuisance” after the residents’ exposure to the chemicals created “conditions that are harmful to health and interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life and property.”
- The derailment, which caused nearly 2,000 residents to be temporarily evacuated, raised concerns after toxic chemicals including vinyl chloride contaminated the community.
- Last month, new soil testing in East Palestine found cancerous agents not previously detected by the EPA.
- The president of the environmental firm Justin Johnston told NewsNation that his tests discovered low levels of six possible carcinogens in the ground.
- “These are carcinogens, so they are not to be an immediate impact. You’re not going to see fish kills. You are going to see hot spots for cancer, whether that’s in wildlife or if it ends up in people that’s the bigger question. And you’re not going to see that answer right away,” Johnston said.
