Rupture of a Railroad Tank Car Containing Hazardous Waste, Freeport, Texas, September 13, 2002: Haza

On September13, 2002, a 24,000-gallon-capacity railroad tank car, DBCX9804, containing about 6,500 gallons of hazardous waste, catastrophically ruptured at a transfer station at the BASF Corporation chemical facility in Freeport, Texas. The tank car had been steam-heated to permit the transfer of the waste to a highway cargo tank for subsequent disposal. The waste was a combination of cyclohexanone oxime, water, and cyclohexanone. As a result of the accident, 28 people received minor injuries, and residents living within 1mile of the accident site had to shelter in place for51/2 hours. The tank car, highway cargo tank, and transfer station were destroyed. Two storage tanks near the transfer station were damaged; they released about 660 gallons of the hazardous material oleum. The National Transportation Safety Board identified a major safety issue and details safety recommendations made to the Research and Special Programs Administration, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the Environmental Protection Agency.