OMAHA, Neb.– Federal inspectors have twice found hundreds of defects in the locomotives and rail cars used by Union Pacific at the world’s largest rail yard in Nebraska, but none appear to explain why a shipping container filled with toxic acid exploded there this fall.
Investigators have not yet confirmed the cause of the September 14 explosion in a remote corner of the railroad’s Bailey Yard in North Platte, Nebraska, about 250 miles west of Omaha. The explosion didn’t spread far, but investigators appear to be looking into the questionable decision to load dozens of plastic barrels of perchloric acid into a shipping container with a wooden floor and possibly onto wooden pallets, even though that acid is known to react with wood or other organic material.
“I don’t know if you’ve ever read about perchloric acid, but when it comes into contact with organic material, it becomes very volatile. So that car was doomed from the day it was loaded,” said Andy Foust, a Nebraska leader of the largest railroad union representing the workers who were changing those train cars just before the explosion.
The explosion not only highlighted potential problems in the vast rail yard, but also the nation’s rail network’s dependence on everyone involved in transporting hazardous materials taking proper precautions. As the explosion in Nebraska made clear, there can be problems that can be difficult to identify before potentially disastrous accidents occur.
Some details about the explosion may never be known because the shipping container containing the acid was destroyed. Federal Railroad Administration spokesman Warren Flatau said that “the leaked acid reacted with the wooden floor of the intermodal container and with other organic material within the container (i.e., pallets).”
The resulting explosion sent shrapnel up to 600 feet away and prompted first responders to evacuate everyone within a mile radius outside the railroad property. After the first container exploded, a second metal shipping container – believed to contain memory foam – fell on top of it and caught fire, but no other cars ignited.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told a meeting of railroad worker leaders in Nebraska that the explosion could have been much worse and “made national headlines if the wind had blown a little differently or if things had been just a little different that day.” had gone a little differently in the yard” – just as Norfolk Southern’s fiery derailment in eastern Ohio did.
That February derailment — and others that followed — put a spotlight on rail safety and prompted Congress and regulators to propose reforms, which have largely stalled.
Foust said Union Pacific never evacuated the rail yard. Nearby workers left the area on their own, but most at the rail yard continued to work. Foust expects that to change as UP is revising its contingency plan, he says.
“A lot of that yard had no idea what was going on, and they were told to keep doing their jobs,” said Foust, whose role has discussed the explosion with FRA inspectors, the railroad and first responders. with the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division union.
Railroad officials said at the time that wind blew smoke from the facility, and because the railroad was up to eight miles wide, most UP workers were at a safe distance.
Despite the explosion, the method of loading 56 barrels of acid does not appear to violate any regulations, so such transportation methods may still occur. A spokesperson for the Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said that “because the regulations prohibit any leakage from a package, the regulations do not specify what materials the drums are loaded with.”
Shippers must take precautions when loading hazardous materials, including ensuring that plastic barrels cannot tip over. The barrels used to transport hazardous materials must also undergo extensive testing.
In this case, the FRA spokesperson said investigators could not determine what loading precautions were taken because the container had been destroyed.
The perchloric acid, which is used in explosives and some industrial processes, was produced at an Ohio company that has not been publicly identified. Norfolk Southern transported the acid and then gave it to Union Pacific. Both railroads declined to comment on the explosion, citing the ongoing investigation.
Considering the timing of the explosion, the leak likely occurred within the UP railway premises.
Railroads inspect rail cars before picking them up for mechanical problems or signs of tampering, but assume shippers have packed them properly.
“We really trust that they know best how to pack the package and do it in a safe manner, so it’s not going to be an issue for us,” said North Platte Fire Chief Dennis Thompson, who led the response on the explosion.
Thompson said the emergency response went smoothly because the weather conditions and location were favorable and the railroad let him know within 25 minutes exactly what they were dealing with.
Before the explosion, inspections at the rail yard in July and August prompted the head of the FRA to write a letter to UP’s CEO, highlighting that the defect rate was twice the national average. In September, the week after the explosion, inspectors returned for follow-up investigations and discovered more than 500 additional problems.
Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena said he understands and welcomes the agency’s scrutiny.
Vena said Union Pacific and other major railroads have become safer over time. But there were still more than a thousand derailments last year, and as the East Palestine derailment showed, just one train accident can be disastrous if hazardous materials are involved.
‘Do we have more to do? Absolutely,” says Vena, who became CEO in August. “And that’s what I challenge the team here at Union Pacific with: We have to get better… We will invest in it. We will spend money on technology. We spend money on people.”
FRA regulators who oversee the inspectors aren’t too concerned. The head of the agency’s Office of Railroad Infrastructure and Mechanical says violations are common when he sends a team out.
“We found no systemic issues that would indicate they are using unsafe equipment that endangers the public,” said FRA’s Charlie King.