Ethanol train derails in Pennsylvania; one car explodes in flames; none hurt; third derailment in 14 months in OH-PA corridor

December 31, 2007

In Pennsylvania, an ethanol train derailed on the weekend. Nine cars went off the tracks in West Wheatfield in Indiana County. No casualties were reported but one of the ethanol cars caught fire and ignited its ethanol cargo. No cause for the derailment has been mentioned.

In October, a train derailed at Windsor, Colorado. The derailment occurred on a section of track that had been repaired following previous derailments, and involved an empty ethanol tank car.

In Ohio earlier in October, an ethanol train derailed, caught fire, exploded and forced the evacuation of 1300 homes of people from their homes. Thirty of the 112 cars derailed, including eight that carried the ethanol that caught fire. The train carried one tanker of liquefied petroleum gas, which did not catch fire. The train was bound for Buffalo.

In October 2006, 24 cars, some loaded with ethanol derailed in a remote section of southwestern Pennsylvania, near New Brighton. Nine of the cars caught fire, causing the evacuation of 50 homes.

The US does not have an ethanol pipeline and ethanol cannot be pumped through oil pipelines because of corrosion concerns; transportation of ethanol is primarily by rail, truck and barge.

Each week, two ethanol trains carrying 2.5 million gallons travel from the Midwest to the West Coast. By contrast, the planes that hit the World Trade Center were carrying an estimated 10,000 gallons of kerosene fuel each when they hit the twin towers.