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General News: Train Spill Leads to Riverfront Closure
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| SKFE #2, the West Point Fire Dept., Orange County Hazmat and village police responded to the spill on the railroad tracks. |
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| The spilled liquid was barely visible on the tracks. |
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| Tests were conducted by an Orange County hazmat team. |
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| Vehicles could not leave the riverfront for three hours. |
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| Access to the river was blocked off. |
May 18, 2008
A liquid spill from a railroad car along the riverfront caused the area to be closed to traffic for more than three hours Sunday while an Orange County hazardous material team tried to determine whether it posed a threat to public safety.
About twenty vehicles were at the waterfront at that time and they were not allowed to cross the tracks and leave the area. Shore Road, Wood Avenue and Dock Hill Road were also closed to incoming traffic.
According to Cornwall emergency control officer and Storm King Fire Engine Company #2 assistant fire chief Kurt Hahn, who was on the scene, the test determined that the liquid contained anti-freeze and gear oil but he said it had to be sent to another lab for a final report on its content. Hahn noted that hazardous material -- whether its propane, chlorine or radioactive material -- travel along the track with virtually every train. Local emergency response teams have been trained to respond to the potential threat of spills.
Cornwall-on-Hudson police officer Arthur Terwilliger noticed the line of liquid on the tracks at Dock Hill Road while on routine patrol and CSX was notified around 1:30 p.m.
Hahn said that the West Point Fire Department was immediately called to the scene as it has more resources for handling hazardous materials. The Orange County hazmat team, as well as a representative of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and an environmental services company were also called in. Hahn said that avoiding any contamination of the Hudson River is also high on the list of concerns for the hazmat responders.
Once the liquid was found to contain anti-freeze and oil, the liquid, which ran down the center of the tracks in a six-inch-wide strip for about three miles, was cleaned up by Miller Environmental Services. Cars, boat trailers, and other vehicles that had been trapped on the river side of the tracks were finally allowed to leave the area by 5:15 p.m.
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