News Release 340

DEPARTMENT DISPATCHES CREW
TO SPRINGFIELD RAIL YARD RELEASE

Volume 36-340

Contact: Larry Archer

(For immediate release)

573-751-3807

JEFFERSON CITY, MO, JUNE 6, 2008 -- The Missouri Department of Natural Resources is continuing today to oversee the cleanup of a chemical release from a Springfield rail yard Thursday.

Cleanup contractors continue to work today on the more than 8,000 gallons of liquid sodium hydroxide released Thursday from a tanker car at the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railyard,
1625 N. Lexington. The car began leaking after receiving a five-foot gash during an accident while switching tracks.

Rain overnight washed much of the sodium hydroxide into a ditch in the railyard, where crews were applying limestone and citric acid this morning during cleanup efforts. None of the chemical reached Wilson's Creek, which also borders the yard, nor had any of it left the rail yard as of this morning.

The department's Environmental Emergency Response section was contacted Thursday afternoon by the Springfield Fire Department concerning the release. The department dispatched a state on-scene coordinator from its Southwest Regional Office in Springfield.   

Liquid sodium hydroxide is caustic material that has numerous industrial applications including everything from making soap to the high-end chemical industry.

The department's Environmental Emergency Response section is called to the scene of more than 300 emergencies each year, including fires, traffic accidents, leaking storage tanks and other incidents that could have a negative environmental impact. The department's 24-hour spill line receives more than 1,600 incident reports annually.

To report an environmental emergency, including fuel spills, please contact the department's spill line at 573-634-2436. For more information, contact the Department of Natural Resources at
800-361-4827 or (573) 751-3443, or visit the department's Web page at www.dnr.mo.gov.

For news releases on the Web, visit www.dnr.mo.gov/newsrel. For a complete listing of the department's upcoming meetings, hearings and events, visit the department's online calendar at www.dnr.mo.gov/calendar/search.do.

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