NV train derailment

| Mi e a f
Mini MISsisSsSauguGa

“A mini-Mississaugua” is
how an informed source
Present at the scene
described a derailment of
four railcars containing
some 400 tons of caustic
soda in the Lynnterm yard in
North Vancouver Friday
morning.

District Fire Chief Bob
MacDonald later confirmed
to the News: “The circum-
stances of the incident are
similar to what is said to
have happened in Missis-
saugua, on a much smaller
scale.”

CN Railway spokesman A}
Menard said Friday that the
cause of the 4:30 a.m. derail-
ment was a mystery but it
was suspected it was “some-
thing to do with the track.”

North Vancouver District
Fire Department and RCMP
were immediately notified of
the incident by CN = and
attended the scene in a
standby capacity. Distnet
mayor Don Bell attended as
an observer

Sewer drains in the area
were plugged up with earth
as a precautionary measure
in the event of any leak of
the chemical.

Two of the four derailed
cars became burned tn gravel
beside the track and slipped
off their undercarmages.

One of them was tilting one-
third off plumb and Menard
said that though the tank
cars sustained superficial
damage there were no
breaks or leakages.

The. Beak Report com-
missioned by North Van-
couver District to study the
dangers of industry in the
Maplewood area _ places
caustic soda second to
chlorine in its” list of
hazardous matenals.

“This material is markedly
corrosive tm contact with
body ussue,” the report
states. “Severe burns result
from contact. Mists and
dusts of caustic soda Cause
burns and damage to cyes
and other delicate Ussue.
Inhalation will damage lung
tissue. In contact with water,
heat is produced, leading to

vapour and must geneta-
tion.”
Fire department

spokesmen were of the
opinion that a spill would
represent more of a threat to
the workers in close contact
than to any community, par-

ticularly because of the
wolated location of — the
derailment.

The derailed part of the
train was the ninth to 12th
cars of a string of 24. The
train, from the Dow

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Chemical Plant in Fort Sas-
katchewan, Alberta, had
been headed for Dow's
North Van storage facility.
The first step was to
remove the cars which were
still on the tracks from the
derailed section. The initial
plan was for the contents of
two of the cars to be pumped
into trucks from the nearby
Dow plant but this idea was
later abandoned in favor of
lifting the derailed cars by
crane unto new un-

dercarniages.

classified

986-6222

apnea

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