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Cyanide Pollution and Emergency Duty
Train Wreck
Dunreith, Indiana
SAMUEL L. MOORE, Chief
Industrial Waste Section
Division of Sanitary Engineering
STEPHEN R. KIN, Director
Water and Wastes Laboratory Division
Indiana State Board of Health
Indianapolis, Indiana
INTRODUCTION
About 9:30 PM on January 1, 1968, a train wreck involving two trains and
about 30 cars occurred at Dunreith, Indiana. Dunreith is a small town of 236
persons located 40 miles east of Indianapolis on US 40.
Five tank cars carrying chemicals, two acetone cyanohydrin, one vinyl
chloride, one ethylene oxide, and one methyl methacrylate, were involved in the
wreck. Each tank car held approximately 20,000 gals. Railroad officials
believe the wreck was caused by a broken rail at the crossing of the Pennsylvania
Railroad and Norfolk & Western Railroad on the east side of Dunreith.
Immediately after the wreck, Dr. A. C. Offutt, State Health Commissioner,
was contacted by the Indiana State Police. A representative of the Indiana State
Board of Health and Indiana Stream Pollution Control Board was on the scene
within a few hrs. A second representative was stationed temporarily at the Indiana State Police control center in Indianapolis.
The purpose of this paper is to present the emergency activities conducted by
representatives of the Indiana State Board of Health and Indiana Stream Pollution
Control Board during the disaster.
CHEMICALS
Early inspection of the wreck site was not possible because of fire, explosion,
and evolution of toxic gases; therefore, the townspeople were evacuated and the
manifest checked to determine the chemicals in the tank cars involved in the
wreck. The following general characteristics of the chemicals were determined:
Acetone Cyanohydrin - (CH3)2 C(OH)CN MW 85. 10
A liquid with a density of . 932 at 19 C, boils at 82 C at 23 mm
pressure, is very soluble in water and most organic solvents, is stable
under acid condition and is transported in acid state, is unstable in alkaline conditions and readily decomposes to acetone and hydrogen cya-
anide. It may be slightly irritating to the skin and mucus membranes.
Hydrogen cyanide hydrolized from the chemical is toxic to humans,
livestock, and fish life (1).
- 583 -
Object Description
| Purdue Identification Number | ETRIWC196850 |
| Title | Cyanide pollution and emergency duty: train wreck, Dunreith, Indiana |
| Author |
Moore, Samuel L. Kin, Stephen R. |
| Date of Original | 1968 |
| Conference Title | Proceedings of the 23rd Industrial Waste Conference |
| Conference Front Matter (copy and paste) | http://earchives.lib.purdue.edu/u?/engext,15314 |
| Extent of Original | p. 583-600 |
| Series |
Engineering extension series no. 132 Engineering bulletin v. 53, no. 2 |
| Collection Title | Engineering Technical Reports Collection, Purdue University |
| Repository | Purdue University Libraries |
| Rights Statement | Digital object copyright Purdue University. All rights reserved. |
| Language | eng |
| Type (DCMI) | text |
| Format | JP2 |
| Date Digitized | 2009-05-20 |
| Capture Device | Fujitsu fi-5650C |
| Capture Details | ScandAll 21 |
| Resolution | 300 ppi |
| Color Depth | 8 bit |
Description
| Title | page 583 |
| Collection Title | Engineering Technical Reports Collection, Purdue University |
| Repository | Purdue University Libraries |
| Rights Statement | Digital object copyright Purdue University. All rights reserved. |
| Language | eng |
| Type (DCMI) | text |
| Format | JP2 |
| Capture Device | Fujitsu fi-5650C |
| Capture Details | ScandAll 21 |
| Transcript | Cyanide Pollution and Emergency Duty Train Wreck Dunreith, Indiana SAMUEL L. MOORE, Chief Industrial Waste Section Division of Sanitary Engineering STEPHEN R. KIN, Director Water and Wastes Laboratory Division Indiana State Board of Health Indianapolis, Indiana INTRODUCTION About 9:30 PM on January 1, 1968, a train wreck involving two trains and about 30 cars occurred at Dunreith, Indiana. Dunreith is a small town of 236 persons located 40 miles east of Indianapolis on US 40. Five tank cars carrying chemicals, two acetone cyanohydrin, one vinyl chloride, one ethylene oxide, and one methyl methacrylate, were involved in the wreck. Each tank car held approximately 20,000 gals. Railroad officials believe the wreck was caused by a broken rail at the crossing of the Pennsylvania Railroad and Norfolk & Western Railroad on the east side of Dunreith. Immediately after the wreck, Dr. A. C. Offutt, State Health Commissioner, was contacted by the Indiana State Police. A representative of the Indiana State Board of Health and Indiana Stream Pollution Control Board was on the scene within a few hrs. A second representative was stationed temporarily at the Indiana State Police control center in Indianapolis. The purpose of this paper is to present the emergency activities conducted by representatives of the Indiana State Board of Health and Indiana Stream Pollution Control Board during the disaster. CHEMICALS Early inspection of the wreck site was not possible because of fire, explosion, and evolution of toxic gases; therefore, the townspeople were evacuated and the manifest checked to determine the chemicals in the tank cars involved in the wreck. The following general characteristics of the chemicals were determined: Acetone Cyanohydrin - (CH3)2 C(OH)CN MW 85. 10 A liquid with a density of . 932 at 19 C, boils at 82 C at 23 mm pressure, is very soluble in water and most organic solvents, is stable under acid condition and is transported in acid state, is unstable in alkaline conditions and readily decomposes to acetone and hydrogen cya- anide. It may be slightly irritating to the skin and mucus membranes. Hydrogen cyanide hydrolized from the chemical is toxic to humans, livestock, and fish life (1). - 583 - |
| Resolution | 300 ppi |
| Color Depth | 8 bit |
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