CLARK COUNTY, Ohio — As of Sunday afternoon, all  the cars involved in the Norfolk Southern train derailment in Clark County were cleared and most of the power to the area was restored.

According to representatives from Norfolk Southern, the local fire and hazmat team, and the Ohio EPA, no hazardous materials leaked into the environment because of this derailment.

Twenty-eight of the 212 cars on the train derailed around 5 p.m. Saturday. There were no injuries reported.

What You Need To Know

  • All cars have been cleared from the Clark County derailment.

  • No hazardous material leaked into the environment.

  • The tankards involved in the derailment were empty at the time.

  • Locals are grateful it wasn’t worse, but would like to see more done to prevent future incidents.

According to Norfolk Southern, four of the derailed cars were tankards, but they were empty at the time. Hazmat teams checked for any leakage of the residual material. Two of those tankards had previously carried an additive involved in wastewater treatment and the other two had previously carried diesel exhaust fuel. Crews found nothing.

Kraig Barner, the general manager for Norfolk Southern’s northern region, said the train was traveling from Bellevue, Ohio to Birmingham, Alabama, when it derailed at the Highway 41 crossing near the Clark County Fairgrounds.

Although none of the derailed cars had hazardous materials, Norfolk Southern said there were a few liquid propane and ethanol cars on the train.

“The rest of the train was made up of mixed freight, a lot of steel, finished automobiles and a lot of the cars that derailed were empty boxcars,” Barner said.

Now that the derailment is cleared, Barner said the next step for Norfolk Southern is to investigate what led up to the incident and pinpoint a potential cause.

Just a month after the derailment of another Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine and the scrutiny that followed, Barner fielded many questions about why and how Ohioans should trust the company is doing everything it can to keep its trains on the track and the communities it travels through safe.

“With this derailment like any other derailment, we will do a full investigation and if there’s takeaways from the derailment, we implement those,” he said. “I will say that derailments of this type are actually on the decline year over year.”

Those who live near this area, said they understand this situation is far different from the derailment and leak in East Palestine, but they would like to see more answers from Norfolk Southern about how these derailments can be avoided.

Zach Burton who, heard the loud clank of the trains fall off the track from his house said he was grateful the situation wasn’t worse.

“This here was just car haulers and box cars, stuff like that,” he said. “Nothing lethal or hazardous, so that’s a blessing being this close and having the freeway and everybody in the fairgrounds.”

The investigation will take place over the next several months. The Ohio EPA will remain on scene to assist with cleanup of PVC pellets that fell into the soil because of the derailment.

They expect no changes to air or groundwater quality because of the derailment. 

Norfolk Southern expects train activity will resume on the track 12 hours after the last car was cleared, though Tuesday is earliest the Highway 41 crossing will reopen as crews need asphalt to repair the damage from the derailment.