Patch Exclusive: Train Derailment Report Will Highlight Lapse In Communication

A report that West Pierce Fire & Rescue will produce will recommend better communication between Burlington Northern Santa Fe and other responding agencies.

The department’s after-action report–which the lead agency usually produces after major emergencies--probably won’t be ready for another month. It will indicate that, overall, the response was strong, , preventing a potential catastrophe on the skirt of one of Pierce County’s most popular public amenities.

But Jay Summerlin, training captain and the head of West Pierce’s hazardous materials team who is writing the report, will also include how the railroad company, particularly its contracted haz-mat workers, wasn’t always on the same page with those agencies in the immediate hours after the derailment.

Specifically, West Pierce dispatched its haz-mat crew to the scene first and determined that it should secure a half-mile radius around the overturned train cars that, they thought, were carrying sodium or sodium hydroxide, both of which are potentially dangerous, especially with water. The radius meant, in part, that residents who live in the area couldn’t leave their homes.

After that, as West Pierce’s haz-mat crew attempted to enter for a second time to conduct a more thorough examination of the derailment around 11 p.m., BNSF’s team had already arrived and was examining the potentially toxic and dangerous area without local crews even knowing, he said.

An hour later, the West Pierce haz-mat team was operating in a support role as BNSF crews continued to work the site.

In the end, the mix-up didn’t hinder the cleanup effort, as crews were able to prevent all but 50 gallons of sodium hydroxide–which was the only chemical in danger of spilling–from leaking onto the beach. Authorities also say the chemical didn’t contaminate the water.

In all, 14 cars came off the tracks, four of which were on the beach.

Still, the report will highlight communication between BNSF and responding agencies as an area for improvement, he said.

“There was a lot of miscommunication about what they were doing and how they were supposed to do it,” Summerlin said. “The thing we have to work on is more of the minutia.”

Gus Melonas, spokesman for BNSF, said he hadn’t heard of any communication problems between the two haz-mat teams.

BNSF crews worked with its control center to get to the scene quickly, and it worked with local agencies to secure the site, he said.

“I think the quick finish does speak for itself,” he said.

The quick finish Melonas referred to is the fact that crews were able to move the cars on the beach before high tide hit around 2 a.m., approximately six hours after the derailment.

On Monday night, West Pierce Fire Chiefs Mitch Sagers and Ken Sharp, along with Summerlin, gave the University Place City Council a recap of the response.

Sagers said authorities anticipate it should take another three weeks before all of the debris–including damaged train cars–is removed. He didn’t know how long the pedestrian bridge would remain closed.

Sagers added that BNSF is responsible for the cost of the cleanup.