It has only been a matter of weeks since residents of East Palestine, Ohio were thrust into an environmental and medical nightmare at the hands of the Norfolk Southern Railroad company.
A train carrying a dangerous precursor to PVC overturned in the small Buckeye State town, and the railroad’s hasty cleanup led to a controlled burn that some residents have blamed for mysterious illnesses and animal deaths in the aftermath.
Now, in Minnesota, a similar worry is growing.
A Minnesota town outside of Minneapolis has been ordered to evacuate Thursday morning after a train carrying “a form of ethanol” and “a corn syrup liquid” derailed and caught on fire, police say.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway told FOX Business that its train came off the tracks near Raymond around 1 a.m. local time and no injuries were reported.
“Fire departments from Raymond and numerous area departments responded as several of the derailed tankers started on fire and were determined to be carrying a form of ethanol and others with a corn syrup liquid,” the Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Authorities weren’t taking any chances.
“An evacuation area of ½ mile was established around the crash site and law enforcement officers and other EMS assisted with that evacuation,” the statement continued. “Residents were instructed to leave their homes and an emergency collection site for those with nowhere to go was established at the Central Minnesota Christian School building in nearby Prinsburg, Minnesota.”
The incident comes amid a spate of train derailments, some of which similarly contained hazardous chemicals.
These accidents have prompted serious scrutiny over the lack of response from Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, with many in Congress even going so far as to demand his resignation in the matter.
