Crews are working to clean up a train derailment in Pennsylvania that led to several cars landing in the Lehigh River.
It happened on Saturday morning in Lower Saucon Township in Northampton County, fire and county officials announced on Facebook. Photographs show box and tanker cars off the tracks.
“There are currently no evacuations, no injuries, and no leaks from any containers,” the County of Northampton said while asking people to stay away from the site and allow first responders to do their jobs.
Northampton County Emergency Management, Lehigh County Hazmat and Nancy Run Fire Company are on the scene off Riverside Drive.
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Tanker cars can be seen off the tracks on Riverside Drive in Lower Saucon Township on March 2, 2024. (Nancy Run Fire Company/Facebook)
Some of the trains cars landed on the banks of or in the Lehigh River. (Nancy Run Fire Company/Facebook)
The train belongs to Norfolk Southern, Northampton County says. Crews from the company are on site doing an assessment.
Norfolk Southern had multiple derailments last year, with one of the most notable in Ohio “when 38 cars of a 151-car train carrying hazardous materials derailed and 12 others caught fire,” CBS News Philadelphia reports.
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Norfolk Southern says crews and contractors are on the train derailment scene developing a clean-up plan near Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. (Nancy Run Fire Company/Facebook)
The train derailment happened on tracks along the Lehigh River. (Nancy Run Fire Company/Facebook)
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Norfolk Southern said in an email to Fox News Digital they responded to the incident near Bethlehem and “appreciate the quick, professional response by local emergency agencies.” Crews and contractors will remain on scene over the coming days to clean up the derailment site.
“There is no threat to the public, no hazardous material concerns from the railcars, and no reports of injuries to our crew members,” an updated statement Saturday afternoon reads.
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A small diesel fuel leak has been contained and will be vacuumed out, a Norfolk Southern spokesman said. One car containing plastic pellets spilled “predominantly onto the ground” and will be cleaned up. A nearby road will be closed during cleanup operations, and the single lane portion of Riverside Drive has been impacted as a result of the derailment.
A corporate fact sheet from Norfolk Southern says the company “has the most extensive intermodal franchise in the East” and ships over 2,900 commodities for its customers. The company also says it is the “largest rail shipper of metals in North America.”
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