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Derailment - 6 Years Ago

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Sixth Anniversary of Tamaroa Train Derailment--It was six years ago on this date that 16 cars of a northbound Canadian National chemical train bound for Chicago derailed in the middle of Tamaroa. A day later, a luggage car on an Amtrak passenger train would derail outside Pinckneyville on the line between Du Quoin and St. Louis. The chemical cars were carrying between 23,000 and 30,000 gallons of liquids. "It's not good. It's a serious situation," said Illinois Emergency Management spokesman Joe Watts at the time. Much of the danger was from a methanol fire that burned alongside one of the cars much of the day. The chemical cocktail onboard the northbound freight also included the hazardous chemicals vinyl chloride, formaldehyde and hydrochloric acid. About a fourth of the vinyl chloride leaked from one car. At least two of the cars were leaking chemicals, prompting the Illinois EPA and state police to establish a three-mile evacuation zone around the site. Illinois EPA mobile command units rolled into Du Quoin as local ESDA response vehicles were taken to Tamaroa. Police went door to door telling residents to pack and leave. Approximately 900 residents would be evacuated before nightfall. Many stayed at the nearby Dubois Center and others drove to the American Legion Center in Du Quoin until arrangements could be made for lodging. The American Red Cross assisted approximately 150 orphaned residents until lodging could be found at local hotels or with relatives. Vouchers were given to hotels for displaced residents. It would be upwards of five days before many of the residents could return to their homes. Residents Allen and Ilene Koenegstein were standing in their home trackside when the high speed train went through Tamaroa. "It was going fast and I heard a loud squeal," said Mrs. Koenegstein. Then I heard I loud 'woooosh' like a jet plane taking off. I went to the kitchen window and looked out. I said to myself "Oh, my God, Allen--look!"