Substance on rail line disrupts traffic
A line of white powder on train tracks turned out to be harmless but closed a nearby road for more than an hour.
SAUGERTIES, N.Y. » A line of white powder on the CSX train tracks near Patterson Road extended “as far as the eye could see” and shut down the road for about a half hour, but it turned out to be harmless, the police chief said Saturday.
The Malden-West Camp Fire Department was at the scene Friday night and determined the white dust, which was spread in a single line along the center of the tracks at Patterson Road, a dead-end crossing, was not hazardous, said Saugerties Chief Joseph Sinagra.
He said CSX initially denied any knowledge of the white substance but later said it was lime that had been spread along the tracks by the railroad “as part of a vegetation mitigation plan.”
About 7:30 p.m. Friday, the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office and Ulster County 911 indicated a “possible train leaking white dust” at a crossing, forcing the shutdown of Patterson Road. The road reopened at 8:45 p.m., Sinagra said.
Sinagra said the incident was yet another example of the railroad’s “failure to communicate” with local emergency officials and caused him to waste time and manpower as he “worried about the safety of my police officers.”
In early June, information about a CSX train car emitting hydrochloric acid in Saugerties was not conveyed to the town by CSX until about 45 minutes later, Sinagra said at the time. CSX said the notification occurred much sooner.
Regarding Friday’s incident, Singra said the railroad could have eliminated any panic or concern among residents by notifying the county 911 center before spreading lime on the tracks.
“Many people are concerned” about the contents of trains in the region, the chief said. “They (CSX) need to take concerns more seriously . ... Let emergency services know.”
CSX spokesman Rob Doolittle said the railroad “works very hard to build strong relationships with the communities and emergency services agencies in the Hudson Valley.”
When there are emergencies, he said Saturday, “we make notifications quickly and respond in force to help protect the community and restore any disturbances as soon as safety allows.”
“In nonemergency situations, because of our relationship, the Saugerties [police] knew how to contact CSX and get the information they needed quickly,” Doolittle added. “To us, that’s evidence that our efforts to support local communities are working.”
Sinagra said he and Ulster County Executive Michael Hein are awaiting word from CSX about a promised meeting regarding what he considers an unacceptable lag time before Ulster County officials were notified after the June incident.
“God forbid it was something much more sensitive, much more caustic, much more lethal,” Sinagra said of the hydrochloric acid leak.