NTSB Go Team Launched to Investigate Union Pacific Freight Train Derailment

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has launched a 15-member team to investigate a derailment of a Union Pacific freight train near Graettinger, Iowa.

Initial reports received by the NTSB’s Response Operations Center indicate there were no injuries or fatalities associated with the derailment of 27 rail tank cars near Jack Creek in Iowa.  The train consist of three locomotives and 101 cars, 100 of which were reported to be carrying ethanol.  Initial reports further indicated some of the cars were on fire and that an unknown amount of the ethanol had spilled into the creek.

Initial reports indicate the rail tank cars involved in this accident are legacy DOT-111 rail tank cars.  The NTSB has identified many vulnerabilities in the DOT-111 tank car design that create the risk of the release of hazardous materials or flammable liquids when those tank cars are involved in an accident.

According to Association of American Railroads statistics for August 2016, there are a total of about 99,000 DOT-111 and CPC-1232 tank cars that require retrofitting or replacement by 2029, or an average of about 7,700 tank cars per year. As of August 2016, about 1,400 existing tank cars have been retrofitted to the DOT-117 standard. About 10,839 new DOT-117 cars have been built, but fewer than half have been deployed in flammable liquids service.

For more information visit www.ntsb.gov

20th March 2017