Train carrying hydrochloric acid derails in Dooms
The incident took place the afternoon of June 23. No injuries were reported.
At about 1:57 p.m., Virginia State Police, Augusta County Fire-Rescue, and the Augusta County Sheriff's Office were alerted.
Virginia State Police are investigating the derailment, which took place off of East Side Highway (Route 340), about a mile and a half north of Dooms Crossing Road.
The train had approximately 96 cars. Fifteen of the cars derailed and seven were carrying hydrochloric acid, state police said.
No leaks of hazardous material were reported, and no roads were impacted.
A Norfolk Southern spokesperson said the only car that released materials was a car carrying Polyethylene, which the company said is a non-hazardous plastic in the form of pellets that is commonly used in the production of consumer goods such as containers, packaging, and plastic films.
"Norfolk Southern is working in close coordination with state and local first responders to safely manage and mitigate the incident," said Kasandra Ortiz, a spokesperson with Norfolk Southern. "While we do not yet have an estimated time for the resumption of normal rail traffic in the area, our teams are actively engaged in recovery operations."
The crash remains under investigation.
Update: This article was updated to include comments from Norfolk Southern.
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Brad Zinn is the cops, courts and breaking news reporter at The News Leader. Have a news tip? Or something that needs investigating? You can email reporter Brad Zinn (he/him) at bzinn@newsleader.com. You can also follow him on X (formerly Twitter).
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Train carrying hydrochloric acid derails in Dooms
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