BRADENTON, Fla. — As cleanup for the Bradenton train derailment continues, U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota, joined other officials in visiting the site Thursday morning.
During a news conference, Buchanan said the purpose of his visit was to see what resources he could bring, and he was working with the Florida Department of Transportation and the United States Environmental Protection Agency to understand what happened.
"The biggest concern is the propane — the 30,000 gallons. But the good news is, according [to] what's been said, there are no leaks, there are no injuries," Buchanan said. "You know, in terms of traffic, it hasn't impacted that much. But at the same time, we wanna be sensitive because there, you know, nothing's done until it's done."
While the cause of the derailment remains unclear, the railroad owner said the 100-year-old track was being inspected once a week.
"Railroads were always a concern, not just here, but throughout the country. Usually, they are not very profitable as a rule of thumb," Buchanan explained. "The whole thing on regulation. They want to find a way to get them a little more cash flow, so they deregulate."
The congressman, who said he was on transportation for four years, said he is waiting on the report from the company in order to fully assess the incident.
"Until this gets cleaned up, I'm not going to be comfortable and think everybody feels the same way," he said. "So now, we're gonna have to take a hard look at what's happened here and what's happening across the country."
A total of seven train cars derailed Tuesday with two of them carrying propane fuel in the area of 301 Boulevard East and 16th Street East.
Six of the cars, including one of the propane tankers, jumped off the tracks and fell over on their side. The seventh car in question, the second propane tanker, jumped the track as well but didn't tip over. The rest of the cars were hauling sheet rock.
According to the Southern Manatee Fire Rescue Chief Robert Bounds, the propane tanker on its side was full of about 30,000 gallons of product.
Bounds stressed no one was hurt in the derailment, and there are no known leaks.
Getting this all cleared could take up to six days. Seminole Gulf Railway says it will also make any necessary repairs to the about 200 feet of the track itself.
Florida Department of Transportation and the Federal Railway Administration is still investigating what caused this incident. An official with Seminole Gulf Railway gave an insight into what happened according to their preliminary report.
"It was a minor track issue that caused the car to roll over and it did not rupture, it did not leak, there was no chemical released," Seminole Gulf Railway Executive Vice President Robert Fay said. "We're not hauling the same kind of chemicals that were in the incident in Ohio."
According to the train company's website, it hauls much of the region's building materials, including liquid propane gas.
Mike Callanan is a rail safety expert and consultant who says railways are responsible for the majority of chemical transit.
"Anything that is not safe for a semi-truck on the road usually gets hauled by rail," Callanan said. "Obviously, that creates a dangerous condition for the communities they go through. You know, just look at Ohio."
Callanan says while minor derailments are fairly routine, derailments of this scale involving potentially dangerous chemicals are rare.