Eric Marotta, Akron Beacon Journal
Sun, February 19, 2023
Property owner Bert McEwen of Ravenna Township and resident Chuck Knight, who witnessed a freight train derailment Nov. 1, watch last week as another train passes right next to the property.
Chuck Knight believes he has to move.
He can't sleep at night after watching a freight train derail just feet from where he had been watching fireworks in the distance over Kent State University.
"I was watching the fireworks and the train came through, and it came through flying, probably 50, 55 miles per hour and I'm not kidding you, he was a-flyin' because the breeze was blowing on me," he recalled. "I heard a bang behind me so I turned and looked and I saw a car coming, and it had fire coming out of it, sparks − a million of them.
"That car was coming up, and as it was coming past me I saw an object flying through the air, and it was so dark out there I couldn't make out what was what ... the cars must have got to jumping and twisting, derailing on the track."
The object was a freight car carrying Jeeps. It landed on a boat just feet away from where he was standing. Two other cars dumped tons of rock salt over the tracks, which were shattered "like a twig."
He ran to get his friend Bert McEwen, who is hard of hearing, from the house. The two men ran away from the tracks and watched the evolving disaster.
"There was dust and smoke everywhere," Knight said.
More:Trains are becoming less safe. Why the Ohio derailment disaster could happen more often
For the past five years, Knight has lived in a camper by McEwen's house on South Prospect Street in Ravenna Township. His camper is within 100 feet of tracks, while the house is just a few yards farther. The busy Norfolk-Southern rail line passes their homes on its way from Cleveland to Hudson, through the south side of Ravenna in Portage County, southeast to Alliance, then east to Conway, Pennsylvania.
The route goes through East Palestine and is believed to be the same route taken by a train carrying hazardous material that derailed there, causing an environmental catastrophe on Feb. 3.
The Norfolk Southern train derailment site in November in Portage County, along with another that happened in October in Sandusky, still being cleaned up months after they occurred, as the railroad also scrambles to deal with the derailment in East Palestine.
Norfolk Southern had another derailment Thursday in Michigan, just west of Detroit.
More:Train carrying toxic chemicals traveled through many northern Ohio cities before derailing
Dozens of cars contained hazmat in Ravenna Township derailment
The 238-car train that derailed in Portage County was carrying a variety of freight, including 63 cars containing unidentified hazardous materials, according to a mandatory accident report Norfolk Southern filed with the Federal Railroad Administration. The railroad previously said 22 derailed cars were predominantly auto racks that carry vehicles and hoppers holding rock salt. About 300 tons of rock salt piled from three cars, according to the report.
Ryan Shackelford, director of the Portage County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said multiple types of hazardous materials were being transported, but added his agency did not have a report.
A bulldozer removes tracks from the Ravenna Township derailment site on Nov. 2.
He said hazmat placards, placed on the side of rail cards to identify contents, showed some cars contained flammable chemicals, while others contained corrosive chemicals. He said placards indicated other cars were carrying molten sulfur; some contained anhydrous ammonia.
The Norfolk Southern report, which still has to be verified by the Federal Railroad Administration, said the primary cause of the Ravenna Township wreck was "buffing or slack action" and "train make-up" around the 121st position in the train as it was traveling at 35 mph down the track that evening.
Cleanup continues at Ravenna Township site
Portage County Commissioner Sabrina Christian-Bennett, who owns a vacant lot where freight cars were derailed, said Norfolk Southern has until March 1 to complete the cleanup under its current access agreement with property owners.
Two wrecked rail cars remained on the east side of the track Friday, across from her property and South Prospect Street, even though it's been more than three months since the Nov. 1 derailment.
Two train cars remain at the scene, even though it's been more than three months since the Nov. 1 derailment in Ravenna Township.
"I'm not thinking they're going to have it done with everything that happened in East Palestine," she said. "I'm sure ours has been put on the back burner again.
"The good news is they didn't have chemicals," she said. "It could have been a lot worse."
Repairs continue at Sandusky derailment site
The city of Sandusky has yet to fully reopen an underpass that was the site of the Oct. 11, 2022, Norfolk Southern derailment. One-way traffic resumed on Columbus Avenue in Sandusky on Thursday after contractors repaired concrete retaining walls. A date for the road's full reopening has not been set.
According to Norfolk Southern's mandatory report, the 101-car train was traveling 31 mph around 4:30 p.m. when 21 cars derailed, spilling 10,000 gallons of paraffin wax from one car at around the sixth position in the train.
The primary cause was listed as a roller bearing failure, according to the report.
A Federal Railroad Administration official said results of the formal investigations are usually completed within six months of the incident date. He said further information, other than that from the railroad's self-reporting, is not available.
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown speaks to the media about the Norfolk Southern train derailment Thursday in East Palestine, Ohio.
Hazmat cargo commonplace on area tracks
While Norfolk Southern Railroad officials would not confirm the route taken by the train that derailed in East Palestine, a federal agency investigating the disaster confirmed Wednesday that the train was piloted by a crew it picked up in Toledo en route to a rail yard in Conway, Pennsylvania.
If the train followed the most direct route on Norfolk Southern tracks toward East Palestine, it would have then passed through Cleveland, Hudson and Ravenna, as well as near Kent, before catching fire and crashing near the Pennsylvania border.
Shackelford said it is not unusual for hazardous materials to travel on area rails.
"Anywhere there's a CSX line, Norfolk Southern line, or Wheeling line, you'll see hazardous materials going throughout the county all day long, every single day," he said.
While hazardous material spills are probably the "most common hazard" the agency deals with, "obviously, train derailments are not. But they do happen," said Shackelford.
Here's what data shows:How often do train wrecks spill hazardous chemicals into neighborhoods?
He said that normally, the only notice local officials get of hazardous train cargos is when trainloads of crude oil roll through.
He said Norfolk Southern and Wheeling Lake Erie responded to a survey local emergency planners organized about five years ago. The companies identified 318 types of hazardous materials they carried.
"There is only legislation to make notifications when the Bakken crude oil is coming through our county," he said.
Chuck Knight, who witnessed a Nov. 1 train derailment in Ravenna Township, shows his boat that was destroyed by a train car as a derailed car sits nearby.
'Definitely getting out of here'
Knight says he now counts every train that passes his camper.
On Thursday night, he counted 27 trains passing in both directions between midnight and 2 a.m. − about one every five minutes in all, or 10 minutes between trains in either direction.
"Round about midnight, they start running, but you can come out here any time of day and see that they're flying ...
"I won't be staying here. I'm leaving here. I'm definitely getting out of here," he said. "These trains never woke me up once I got used to it ... It bothers me now."
Train cars and tanks lie on their sides along the tracks after a derailment Feb. 3 in East Palestine, Ohio.
He said he fears the trains are not being maintained properly.
"I can tell you which cars are going by, which car has bad wheels on it. That's how good I've got at identifying what's going on with the train cars. You can hear it, it's so bad. You can see it, it's so loud."
Eric Marotta can be reached at 330-541-9433. Follow him on Twitter @MarottaEric.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Portage County derailed train had hazmat, but only rock salt spilled
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