MANSFIELD, Conn. (WTNH) — Crews at the site of a Mansfield train derailment Tuesday are working to offload dangerous gas from some of those cars. They are also reminding people to stay clear of the area while that is happening.
The train derailed Thursday morning, and they had a lot of the cars out of the river just a day later. Now they need to offload some of the gas that a few of the cars were carrying. Maybe even burn off some of the excess gas on board, as well. But that is not a quick process.
‘Considerable progress’ made on Mansfield train derailment cleanup, shelter in place lifted
This is a liquid form of a petroleum gas. It takes specialized equipment to pump it out safely, and this all has to happen in a snow-covered cornfield in a remote part of Mansfield next to a frozen river.
If you weren’t watching last week, this was a train with two locomotives and 41 railcars. The last 13 came decoupled from the rest of the train. 10 of those derailed, and 6 ended up partially or fully in the Willimantic River. One carrying cooking grease cracked open and spilled more than a ton of what is essentially animal fat into the river.
Shelter in place issued after train cars carrying flammable fuel overturn into Mansfield river
They placed booms downriver to catch it. The current operation to offload the gas could take up to 10 hours per car, and there are six of those. Then there’s the burning off of leftover gas in the cars…