Crude By Rail

DERAILMENT: Train derails in Ripley, NY; homes evacuated due to ethanol tanker leak

Repost from Syracuse.com, photo from WBKW

Train derails in Ripley, NY; homes evacuated due to ethanol tanker leak

Associated Press, March 2, 2016
A multi-car train carrying hazardous material derailed in Ripley around 10 p.m. Tuesday night. Video by WBKW

RIPLEY, N.Y. (AP) — Crews are working to contain a leak on an ethanol tanker that was among 16 cars on a freight train that derailed in far southwestern New York and forced the evacuation of several homes.

A spokesman for Norfolk Southern says a train derailed on the rail company’s line around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday in the town of Ripley, about 60 miles southwest of Buffalo. Gov. Andrew Cuomo had earlier said the accident occurred around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Emergency services officials say Wednesday morning that no one was injured and there was no fire. But two of the derailed cars contained ethanol that leaked. Officials say one tanker has been contained and crews are working on the other. A derailed tanker containing propane is intact.

Officials say between 25 to 30 people have been evacuated from their homes. Other residents near the site have been urged to remain inside their homes.

Ripley is located on the Pennsylvania border in western Chautauqua County, on Lake Erie.