A number of freight prepare automobiles derailed on the banks of the Lehigh River, a tributary of the Delaware River, in Pennsylvania on Saturday, authorities stated. No accidents or escapes had been reported.
Northampton County Emergency Administration Companies and the Lehigh County Hazardous Supplies Squad responded to the derailment in Decrease Saucon Township, Pa., about 10 miles east of Allentown, and had been assessing the damages
There have been “no evacuations, no accidents and no leaks from any container,” Northampton County stated on its Fb web page.
The pictures of the derailment, which occurred simply earlier than 8 am, shared on social media present two locomotives on the river financial institution, one in every of them partially submerged, and several other derailed container wagons.
“An important factor we are able to do for our first responders is to steer clear of the positioning,” the county wrote in capital letters.
Northampton County Emergency Administration Companies didn’t instantly reply to a request for info.
Norfolk Southern, the railroad firm that operated the prepare, was additionally on the derailment website conducting an evaluation, the county stated. Norfolk Southern, which owns the Lehigh Line, a serious commuter rail route that winds by New Jersey and Pennsylvania, didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The Lehigh River offers ingesting water for tons of of 1000’s of individuals, and as a tributary of the Delaware River, it contributes to a ingesting water provide for 15 million folks, in response to American Rivers, an environmental non-profit group.
In January, Norfolk Southern agreed to hitch a federal security reporting program after scrutiny of the disastrous prepare derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, in February 2023. In that crash, dozens of freight automobiles carrying hazardous supplies derailed and caught hearth, enveloping the town with poisonous smoke and contaminating the ingesting water.
From 2018 to 2022, Northampton County recorded 26 rail accidents or incidents that resulted in 13 reported accidents and no deaths, in response to a hazard mitigation plan.
The Lehigh Valley, a traditionally agricultural area, has been developed lately right into a warehouse heart.
