Train derails in Ayer, spilling trash, recycling
A train derailed in Ayer, tipping cars and spilling trash and recycling, but authorities say its contents do not pose a threat to area residents.
The Ayer Fire Department said in a Facebook post at 12:13 p.m., around 40 minutes after the initial incident reports, that the scene remained “active incident” near Sculley Road and that the “railroad cars involved do NOT contain hazardous materials.”
The department said it was working with rail crews, local police and the Ayer Department of Public works to “mitigate this incident.”
By Thursday afternoon, freight company CSX confirmed to the Herald that a freight train operated by Springfield Terminals — a Springfield-based fuel company — “derailed five rail cars carrying ten intermodal containers holding solid waste on the Pan Am Southern rail line.”
The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency clarified by around 1:12 p.m. that the “solid waste” in this case was made up of trash and recycling.
“There were no reported injuries to the crew, no hazardous materials involved, no leaks or spills of any freight and no impacts to the environment,” a CSX representative said in a statement.
A spokesman for the Federal Railroad Administration, the agency tasked with investigating such derailments, said that the administration is “aware of” the incident and is “continuing to gather information on the incident and monitor developments as they occur.”
Crews from both CSX and Norfolk Southern, the two companies that CSX says jointly own the line, are working with local officials “to assess the situation and develop a recovery plan. The cause of the incident is under investigation.”
The train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, spilling hazardous materials into that community’s air, soil and water early last month was a Norfolk Southern one. Cleanup of that Ohio derailment continues and the incident has prompted a broad review in Congress of the safety regulations governing operations of the nation’s major rail companies.