Officials in Mansfield have lifted the precautionary shelter-in-place order after a freight train carrying 43 rail cars derailed on Thursday morning, including some carrying hazardous materials.
All six of the cars carrying liquid propane have been pulled out of the Willimantic River and are now on solid ground, according to Alexis Paquette, spokesperson for the Connecticut Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security. The other cars that derailed were carrying “general goods” and cooking grease, she said.
Paquette said no gas leaks have been detected. The only leak occurred in a car with about 2,500 gallons of cooking grease, which was contained at the scene on Thursday.
“All of the cars that were in the water are now on solid ground, making them a lot safer” Paquette said. “But the risk isn’t fully removed, so there’s still a heightened presence of first responders out here. Going into the next few days, we’re slowing down a little bit because of the weather and wind chill, but the rail company is working on repairing the rails and starting to offload the product in the cars. We’re looking at Monday to potentially begin removing the product from the cars.”
Immediately after the derailment on Thursday, town officials had called for all residents within ½ a mile of the derailment to shelter in place. According to officials, the train was with the New England Central Railroad, which is owned by the Genesee & Wyoming, Inc.
Despite the order being lifted, officials said Route 32 north of Route 275 and south of Route 44 is still closed to traffic at this time. Residents in the immediate area are asked to avoid the site and be aware of continued emergency and recovery operations in the area.
Paquette said that the rail company will begin flaring the derailed cars on Monday. Flaring involves burning off residual vapors or gases in a safe manner to depressurize them and prevent explosions or accidents.
“This will most likely produce a larger flame that may be a little bit noisy, but it will not produce any smell or cause any danger,” Paquette said. “It is safe and DEEP officials are continuously monitoring the air quality in the area.”
Stephen Underwood can be reached at [email protected].