The following was on the news wire.
Freight train derails near TacomaThe Associated Press
Sunday, February 27, 2011 7:24 AM EST
Lights from a truck illuminate train cars near Chambers Bay in University Place,… (AP Photo/Joe Barrentine - Tacoma News Tribune)
UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. (AP) — A freight train derailed and sideswiped another on the banks of Puget Sound, sending some cars carrying a hazardous chemical careening off the rails near the water, officials said.
Fourteen cars derailed Saturday night and most were empty, but four were tankers carrying sodium hydroxide, or lye, BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas said. The chemical is used in industry and to regulate the pH levels of water but can be hazardous and cause breathing problems and burns.
No one was injured in the derailment, which occurred about 8:30 p.m. 13 miles south of Tacoma in Pierce County, he said.
None of the chemical appears to have gone into the water, Melonas said.
Some of the derailed cars were lying near the shore of Puget Sound but none went into the water, he said.
One of the cars had leaked about 50 gallons of the chemical and a hazardous materials crew sealed it around 3 a.m., Melon