WOOD RIVER - Wood River Police Chief Brad Wells announced as of Tuesday evening, all four railcars involved in the sulfuric acid leak situation last week are sealed and secured and have been safely moved back to the refinery. Between May 28 and May 30, 2021, four railroad tanks were loaded with sulfuric acid at the Phillips 66 facility. On June 2, 2021, the tank cars were loaded onto a train on Norfolk Southern Railway and Kansas City Southern Rail Lines. At 3 p.m. that day, one of the tanks ruptured and sulfuric acid began venting into the atmosphere. All four cars eventually showed a leak. A shelter in place was issued for areas in Wood River and Roxana and multiple fire agencies, HAZMAT, and Madison County Emergency Management responded.
"As a continued safety precaution, the scrubber system is being reinstalled on the railcars at the refinery," Chief Wells said. "Air monitoring continues throughout the community, at the response site, and at the refinery. The air monitoring has indicated no detectable readings of sulfur dioxide.
"This latest work completes the emergency response phase of this incident, and Unified Command will be disbanding. Throughout the response phase, Unified Command’s focus has been the safety of the community and responders, protection of the environment, and bringing resolution to this railcar incident.
"We thank the local emergency responders who supported this effort and the community for their patience as Unified Command worked diligently to respond to this incident."Chris Rhodes also contributed to this story.
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