Abstract

The Effects of an Accidental Release of Chlorine Gas
Track: Disaster and Emergency Management
Authors: Thomas Litant

On 6 January, 2005, in Graniteville South Carolina, two trains collided. The Northbound train (192P005) consisted of two engines and forty two cars. This train stuck an unattended train consisting of one engine and two cars. 192P005 included five cars containing chlorine: a hazardous material. The collision resulted in one of these cars being punctured, and chlorine gas released. 5,400 residents were evacuated, nine residents died, 554 were medically treated.

The Mayfield region of Fredericksburg, Virginia, is approximately one-half mile south of the center of Fredericksburg. CSX frequently parks up to thirty-one freight cars on the Mayfield siding, containing hazardous materials such as chlorine, ethanol, or propane. This study analyzes the downwind dispersion of the chlorine cloud in order to determine the size of the affected population. A number of scenarios were generated representing various weather and release conditions, to determine best-case and worst-case effects.